The Hyuga Factor
by Gentyman
Summary: When selecting the teams, a last minute switch comes into play. Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga are switched around. This time around, Hinata is on Team 7, while Sakura is on Team 8. What will this, along with other things, change? NaruHina, SasuSaku, and other parings as well.
1. The Team

**Hello everyone. This here is my first attempt at a Naruto fanfiction, so bear with me as I tread along this road. If I think that this fic seems fine, I'll keep going on with it, but if I don't really like it that much, then I'll either start over or scrap the fic entirely.**

 **Without further ado, let's get on with the story!**

* * *

The orientation day was a day that Hinata Hyuga has been dreading and awaiting for quite a while now. She already knew what was going to happen. She was a ninja now. And that meant that she was going to be placed in a team with two other people and a Jonin sensei.

Truth be told, the reason why she was frightened was because she was scared of who she would be paired with. Would they be mean? Would they be nice? Would she be paired with Naruto Uzumaki? The one who she's been crushing on for god knows how long?! Oh wait, getting carried away here.

Hinata didn't know any of the Jonin sensei that much, so she didn't know who she wanted as a sensei. She knew one named Kurenai Yuhi. But she didn't know her that much, she had only seen the woman a couple of times in her life.

The journey from the Hyuga Manor to the Ninja Academy was a blur to Hinata, but that was probably because she had a lot on her mind.

Naruto.

Being a ninja.

Naruto.

The teams.

Naruto.

Making her father proud.

Naru-ok I think you get it now.

What Hinata found intriguing about the Uzumaki is that like her, he was ostracized by others. However, in Naruto's case, basically everyone in the village ostracized, whereas Hinata by a select few people.

Also, although Hinata's mother had died years ago while giving birth to her younger sister Hanabi, she still had her father, even though he didn't really show any sort of attention to her. Naruto, on the other hand, has no family.

Yet he doesn't cry.

Where she cried multiple times and gave up before trying, Naruto never quit. He had a will as strong as the material used to construct the Hokage's faces which tower over the village.

Knowing all of this is why she is sad that he never graduated to Genin with the rest of the class…

"Why are you here? Today's orientation is only for those who graduated, Naruto." The voice of lazy boy extraordinaire Shikamaru Nara asked the blonde boy.

The name rang through Hinata's ears like wildfire.

Naruto was here?

"Do you see this on my head, Shikamaru! It's a headband protector, you see! Starting today, I'm a ninja, ya know!" Naruto responded with a foxlike grin. "Admit it, this thing looks really good on me, am I right?" Naruto adjusted his forehead protector with his hands.

 _Naruto-kun was able to graduate…_ Hinata thought with a smile and a slight blush.

Just then, the door to the classroom slid opened, as Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka were trying to get into the door before the other could. They struggle for quite a while, before they were both able to get in. They raised their hands us and declared, "GOAL!"

Immediately right after, they began to breath heavily, tired due to the race they had to the Academy.

"I win again, Sakura." Ino told the pink-haired girl with a smug smile, which Sakura returned with one of her own.

"What are you talking about? My toe entered the class before yours by a centimeter-no, an inch!" Sakura rebutted, refusing to lose to her blonde-haired rival.

As the two continued bickering, Naruto took notice of Sakura's voice and turned his towards her, causing him to blush.

 _It's Sakura-chan!_

Sakura looked in Naruto's direction and smiled, running towards him, causing the boy to blush even more.

Seeing the girl coming his way, Naruto decided to greet her, rising from his seat, Naruto greeted, "Good morning, Sakura-chan!"

"Out of the way!" Sakura yelled violently as she shoved Naruto out of the way and onto the floor. Turns out Naruto wasn't the one she was looking at, it was the rookie of year, Sasuke Uchiha.

 _Poor Naruto-kun, all he was doing was saying hello…_ Hinata looked at her crush with a sad look.

"G-Good morning, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke momentarily paused his brooding and tilted his head towards Sakura the slightest bit you couldn't even tell that he was looking at her or acknowledging her.

"Can I sit next to-"

"Hold on!" Sakura was cut off by a very angry Ino grabbing her arm. "I'm going to sit next to Sasuke-kun.

"I was here first, Ino-pig!" Sakura exclaimed.

"No, I came into the classroom before you!" Ino replied, tightening her grip on Sakura's arm.

The next thing that happened was that other girls from the classroom came to the two and said how they were there first and they should next to Sasuke. The only one who didn't go was Hinata, as she didn't have any feelings for the Uchiha.

 _Annoying._ Sasuke thought to himself as he returned to brooding.

Naruto heard the ruckus caused all because of Sasuke and got pissed. He went in front of Sasuke and jumped onto the table.

Sasuke opened his eyes to see Naruto's face mere inches away from his own, glaring daggers into him. Sasuke returned this gesture with a stoic stare.

Naruto growled at Sasuke as he continued staring, the girls saw this and well...they didn't like it.

"Naruto! Stop glaring at Sasuke-kun!" Sakura scolded the blonde-haired boy.

Naruto looked to the girls and performed his usual squint.

 _Sakura-chan…_ He turned his attention back to Sasuke. _Everyone is so obsessed with Sasuke, what's so good about this bastard anyway?_

Sasuke soon countered Naruto's fox glare with a glare of his own, a spark of tension surging in between the two like a lightning bolt.

The girls go on babbling about how Sasuke should beat the crap out of him and stuff when someone who was sitting in the row in front of Naurto and Sauske accidentally nudged Naruto in the back with his elbow.

"Whoops, sorry." The boy apologized. However, his face fell when he saw what pushing Naruto had just resulted in.

All of the Sasuke fangirls along with everyone else in the room for that matter froze to see that Sasuke and Naruto were kissing...on the fricking lips! The boys had their eyes widened out in shock at the sudden contact of their lips.

Hinata, who hadn't been paying attention to anything until now, noticed what was happening and gasped out of shock. _Oh dear, I didn't know Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun had those kind of thoughts..._ Hinata became depressed at that thought.

"AHHHHHHH!" Sakura screamed as Inner Sakura took over. " _Shannaro! I was supposed to be Sasuke-kun's first kiss, Naruto, you ruined it all!"_

Naruto and Sasuke immediately forced their lips away from each other as they hacked and coughed like a cat with a hair ball as they tried to sooth the horrible feeling that they had just experienced.

 _Naruto! I'm going to murder you!_ Sasuke though menacingly.

 _Oh...it was an accident. That's good._ Hinata let out a sigh of relief. That's means she still had a chance.

Naruto paused as his senses picked up. "Danger…" Out of fear, he creaked his head to where the girls were standing, and saw the faces of girls who wanted to kill him.

"S-Sakura-chan, before you say ANYTHING, it was a complete acci-"

"You're annoying!" Sakura interjected as she cracked her knuckles with a look of hate on her face.

"Oh no…" Naruto mused to himself as he jumped off the table and continued to run around the room with numerous Sasuke fangirls chasing him.

Unfortunately for Naruto, it wasn't enough…

* * *

 **One Gruesome Uchiha Fangirl Beating And Introduction Later**

Iruka was currently appointing the teams of three for the Genin class, Naruto had practically fallen asleep for the first couple of teams, as all he cared about was who was on his team.

"Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto rose his head at hearing his name. At that moment, he had one thought playing at the speed of light in his head.

 _PleasegivemeSakura-chanandnotthatbastardSasuke!_

"Hinata Hyuga, and Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka finished.

Naruto's face dropped. _Not only am I not with Sakura-chan, but I'm with Sasuke-teme and some weird girl who I've barely talked to._

Hinata's face switched into a smile, inside, she was squealing for joy that she was on Naruto's team that she forgot that who her third teammate was. _Wait, who's my third teammate?_

 _Great, I'm with the dobe and one of the weakest girls in class. At least she isn't one of those annoying fangirls._ Sasuke thought to himself.

The fangirls of Sasuke were all upset on how they couldn't be with their 'Sasuke-kun' and that it should be them on the team and not Hinata. Some even glared at her out of jealousy.

Hinata noticed that all of the attention of the girls were on her, and as a result blushed heavily and sank down deep into her chair, giving into their glares of jealousy.

"Why is _she_ the one who gets to be in his team." Both Sakura and Ino whispered in a low voice, referring to Hinata.

"Team 8, Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame."

 _Oh no, I'm with the top competitor of Naruto's place of Most Annoying Idiot and bugboy. Why couldn't I be picked with Sasuke-kun, even if it meant being with Naruto…_ Sakura put her head down in the table and grabbed her long hair.

Iruka finished listing the teams, with Team 10 consisting of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi.

"Iruka-sensei! Why does a great ninja like me have to be paired with a slouch like Sasuke!" Naruto complained, clearly angry at being was Sasuke the most than not being with Sakura.

 _Oh, Sasuke-kun's my other teammate. He might be hard to get along with..._ Hinata glanced at the survivor of the Uchiha massacre.

"Sasuke graduated with the highest scores. Naruto, you had the lowest scores!" Iruka informed Naruto, causing everyone to laugh at him with Naruto dumbfounded. "This happens because we want to evenly divide abilities between the groups."

"Just don't get in my way, dobe." Sasuke spoke at the blonde coldly.

"Grrr! What was that, bastard?!"

"You wanna fight, dobe?" Sasuke taunted with a stoic expression on his face. Yet this earned many laughs around the class due to Sasuke making a complete fool of Naruto, as they all knew how Naruto in the past would get his ass handed to him by Sasuke whenever Iruka would call them up to do taijutsu training.

"Dobe? Why you…"

"Stop it, Naruto!" Sakura scolded Naruto harshly, still mad that she wasn't on the same team as Sasuke.

"I'll announce the Jonin senseis later in the afternoon, until then, meeting adjourned."

* * *

 **Later-Outside the Academy**

"Sasuke-kun! Where are you?" Chirped the voice of Sakura. She had figured that since this would be the last time she would see Sasuke before they got separated, she would have to make the best of the time she had now.

"SAKURA-CHAAAAAAAAAAN!"

There it was. The one voice Sakura didn't need to hear right now. Turning around, she saw the dead last in his orange and blonde glory, Naruto.

"Since this is going to be like the last time we see each other, I just wanted to-"

"NO!" Sakura snapped immediately, not letting Naruto finish his sentence.

"But you didn't let me-"

"Uzumaki Naruto! How many times do I have to say NO for it to get through your stupid brain! You. Are. Annoying."

The strings in Naruto's heart began to weaken at that statement.

Why? Why did she treat him like this? Why was she like all the other people in the damn village? Why did everyone hate him so much? He never did anything to them.

He showed Sakura so much affection, he tried to show that he appreciated her and loved her, but every time he gets turned down.

He didn't know why, but this particular rejection hit him harder than all of the others. The others, he would just shrug them off and keep going, but this one…

Naruto was so caught up dead in his thoughts, he didn't even bother to notice that Sakura had began to walk away, calling Sasuke's name repeatedly.

A certain dark haired girl, who was watching the whole thing, gazed at the dead last with a look of sadness. Seeing that Sakura had left, her heart rate sped up drastically.

 _Oh no, he's right here, and we're ALONE! Come on Hinata, you can do this! Just talk to him!_ Hinata mentally slapped herself as she took a step out of the tree she was hiding behind.

"N-Naruto-kun…" She croaked with her trademark stutter.

"Huh?" Naruto looked around from where he heard the voice, but found no one. "Is anyone there?"

Great, he didn't even hear her. That was definitely was Hinata needed right now to calm her current anxiety.

Hinata felt her pointer fingers pressing against each other and her legs slightly twitching towards each other.

 _Oh no, please not now!_ Hinata thought to hers

This time, a little louder, she spoke again.

"Y-Yes…"

Hinata was actually surprised that her voice could go that loud, as she tends to speak quietly and is very antisocial.

Thankfully, Naruto noticed her this time.

"Oh, Hinata, what's up?" The Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi asked, pasting a smile onto his face.

Hinata frowned internally, she knew that smile of Naruto's. That was his fake smile, when something would be getting him down and he would pretend nothing is wrong.

It didn't surprise her that Sakura's words hurt that much. After all, no one in the village acknowledged Naruto, especially the adults. And he was all alone. So, to Naruto, a positive opinion from someone could mean a lot to him.

"Oi, Hinata, are you there?!" Naruto raised his voice, startling Hinata as she let out a small 'EEEP!'

 _Wow, she's more weird than I thought…I mean...it is cute, I guess..._ Naruto sweatdropped at Hinata's reaction.

It took all of Hinata's strength not to faint, she was at such a close proximity with her crush, that if she leaned just a little bit forward, she would be able to give him a peck on the lips.

That is...if she had the courage to do so.

"W-Well...I-I was just wondering if you w-would like to have lunch with me." Hinata spoke with multiple stutters peering into her sentence.

"Huh?" Naruto was confused, no one had ever wanted to have lunch with him before. Very rarely in the past, Shikamaru and Choji would, but again, that was very rare.

"W-Well, I thought that since we're on the same team, w-we could use this time to get to know each other…" Hinata spoke in almost a whisper, but just barely loud enough for Naruto to be able to decipher what she had said.

In her thoughts, Hinata was squealing with joy for the fact that she had made this much conversation with Naruto without fainting.

 _Makes sense._ Naruto gazed at Hinata with a look of interest.

"What about that slouch Sasuke?" Naruto asked Hinata.

"Sasuke-kun?"

 _Great...she said Sasuke-kun, that means she's a fangirl, albeit more shy, quiet and weird._ Naruto dropped his head out of disappointment.

"I-I couldn't find him…" Hinata mumbled.

Frankly, to Hinata, Sasuke was pretty intimidating to her due to his cold and serious demeanor, which reminded her of father and her cousin Neji, along with her sister, who had gone through a major transformation after she beat Hinata in a match which would decide who the heiress to the clan would be.

"B-But it's fine, I would r-rather have lunch with-"

 _GRRRRRRRRR_

Hinata paused as she heard a growl, she looks at Naruto's face, thinking it was his mouth that had made the sound, her heart rate picked up even more.

Did she make him mad? If, so, for what reason?

The next thing she heard was an "Oh Crap" by Naruto, followed by him widening his eyes.

"S-Sorry Hinata, got to go!" And with that, Naruto made a mad dash to the nearest bathroom.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata spoke up, but it was too late, Naruto was already gone. Hinata let out a sigh as her legs gave up, causing her to slouch to the ground on her butt, deciding to eat her lunch and just wait for Naruto to come back.

She waited…

And waited…

And waited some more…

But he never came back.

 _Great, I must have made him mad at me, Hinata, you're such an idiot!_ Hinata mentally cursed herself.

 _Oh well, I guess I'll talk to him later..._

* * *

 **Later-Back Inside the Academy**

To say that Team 7's current situation was awkward was quite the understatement. After the recently appointed Genin went back inside the Academy, they had to wait for their Jonin instructors to arrive and pick up their team.

For every team, the wait for the Jonin instructors wasn't very long...well…

"HE'S SO LATE!" A very angry Naruto could be heard throughout the Academy.

Team 7 didn't have the luck that the other ones had.

"Why the hell is _our_ teacher the only one who's late?!" Naruto ranted. "All the other groups went somewhere with their new teachers already, and Iruka-sensei went home 10 minutes ago!"

"A-Ano, Naruto-kun…" A soft voice that Naruto already identified as Hinata spoke.

"What do you need Hinata?" Naruto responded in a slightly harsh manner. In a normal situation, it wouldn't be harsh at all, but their sensei has taken so long that it has affected Naruto's current attitude.

"I-I'm sorry to say this...but Iruka-sensei left half an hour ago…" Hinata said.

"THAT'S EVEN WORSE!" Naruto bellowed, causing the Hyuga to retreat into her shell a little.

A light bulb suddenly went off in Naruto's head as he received a grin plastered over his face.

Moments later, the Uzumaki was standing on a stool right next to the door of the room, sliding open the door just to the point where he could slip an eraser at the top.

"N-Naruto-kun, I-I don't think that is a good idea, we could get in big trouble for this…" Hinata spoke in an attempt to persuade Naruto to stop what he was doing.

"That's his fault for being late!" Naruto replied as he jumped off the stool with a foxlike grin.

"Hn. A Jonin isn't going to fall for a plain old booby trap like that." Much to both Naruto and Hinata's surprise, Sasuke actually said something.

However, their attention turned to the door when they heard a hand slide, they saw a man with a mask covering most of his face, with his forehead protector covering his left eye, and spiky gray hair which seemed to defy the laws of gravity.

The eraser Naruto had placed fell on top of his head with a _PLOP_ as it fell off his head and onto the ground. No matter how anyone could look at it.

Naruto's prank had succeeded.

"HAHAHAHA! He fell for it! He fell for it!" Naruto laughed his ass off as he pointed at the late Jonin.

Hinata hid her mouth with right hand, trying to conceal the fact that she was slightly giggling.

Sasuke merely narrowed his eyes at the masked Jonin. _He fell for that stupid trick? Is this guy really a Jonin?_

The man took a step into the room, his body fully present for the Genin to see.

He wore what most of the Jonin wore, a dark green flak jacket, dark blue pants, and a long sleeved shirt of the same color, with the shirt having the Uzushiogakure having on both upper arm areas and the same symbol on the back of the flak jacket.

The gray-haired Jonin bent down and picked up the eraser that was dropped on top of him and stared at it for an uncomfortable amount of time. The only thing that could be heard was the chirping of the birds.

Finally, the Jonin broke the silence.

"Hmm...how should I say this...my first impressions of this group is...well, I hate you."

The faces of the 3 Genin all dropped when they heard that.

* * *

 **Later**

"Let's see…" The Jonin trailed off as he rested upon a rail, "Why don't you introduce yourselves."

"Introduce ourselves? Well, what do we have to say?" Naruto asked.

"Things you like, things you hate, hobbies, or maybe dreams for the future. Things like that." With that, the Jonin crossed his arms and awaited the introductions of the team.

"Umm...sensei. May you please introduce yourself first? So we have an example to go off of." Hinata inquired with a soft voice.

"Me? Well, let's see...my name is Kakashi Hatake." The Jonin now known as Kakashi stated his name. "The things I like and the things I hate...well, I don't feel like telling you that."

"Huh?" Confusion spread over Naruto and Hinata's faces while Sasuke's slightly scrunched up out of irritation.

"My dreams for the future...that is none of your business. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies." Kakashi finished as his eye drifted off, looking up into the sky with a very bored expression evident on his face, as if he didn't even want to be there.

"All we found out was his name." Naruto whispered over to Hinata, who nodded in agreement and blushed slightly with Naruto's face being so close to hers.

"Well, it's your turn now. Blonde, you're up first." Kakashi told Naruto, who smiled and began by adjusting his forehead protector.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like Cup Ramen! But I like the ramen at Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei bought for me even more! I _hate_ the three minutes that I have to wait after I put the hot water! My hobbies is eating different kinds of Ramen and comparing them and…" Naruto paused and thought about it for a bit, "Pulling pranks and watering my garden I guess…"

 _He likes watering his garden?!_ Hinata inwardly squealed, as she liked to press flowers. However, she found the fact that Naruto liked to water plants VERY ironic due to the fact that Naruto had just said that he hated waiting a mere three minutes for Ramen, and watering gardens is an activity that takes MUCH longer than three minutes.

"And my dream!" Naruto's voice rose up a couple of decibels as he adjusted his forehead protector even more. "It's to become the greatest Hokage that surpasses all of the previous ones! That way the people of the village will finally acknowledge my existence and see me as somebody, somebody important!"

 _I see. He has grown up in an interesting way, and he reminds me of you, Obito._ Kakashi temporarily drifted off into his thoughts before snapping back to reality.

"Right. Next, the girl."

Hinata gasped out of slight surprise, Kakashi and Naruto's attention were now on her. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins, most of her body telling her to faint and let it all be over, thankfully, her heart and brain were the loyal parts.

"W-Well...my name is Hinata Hyuga. What I like is…" Hinata paused as her began to flush tomato red as she stole a quick glance at Naruto, who was too dense to notice despite his eyes being locked onto her. However, this quick glance at the blonde didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi.

Hinata was in a pickle. She couldn't say that she liked Naruto out loud, not in front of their sensei and ESPECIALLY not in front of Naruto.

"My younger sister. I-I also like zenzai and cinnamon rolls. I...dislike people who treat others poorly, being a burden and the harsh ways of my clan. My hobbies…" She froze. There was no way in hell that she could say stalking Naruto was one of her hobbies, if she did Naruto would think of her as a weirdo forever!

"P-P flowers." She decided. "My dream…"

 _To become Naruto-kun's wife…_

"To one day change the ways of my clan and find a way to abolish the curse seal that has been tainting the branch family for so long." She had truly meant it. After all, she was right there when her cousin Neji had the curse mark inflicted upon him. Although he was acting very cruel towards her that day, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"Finally, I wish to become stronger so I can change, so I can be worthy enough to be acknowledged by my father, so I can be strong yet kind, just like my mother!" For some reason, when talking about her dreams, she found that she didn't stumble or stutter once, and she did in Naruto's presence. Now that's got to be worth some praise considering how socially awkward Hinata usually is.

 _Ok...at first glance she seems like a fan girl or a girl with a crush. But...there seems to be more to her than just that. Maybe I didn't make a mistake when I suggested that…_ Kakashi thought to himself.

"Last one." Kakashi referred to Sasuke.

Bored eyes, curious eyes, and eyes of humorous hatred for stealing the first kiss of their life found themselves on Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha." The boy spoke with a cold stoic voice. "There are many things that I hate, and I don't particularly _like_ anything."

Suddenly, the entire atmosphere around them went cold with killing intent erupting off of the only survivor of the Uchiha Massacre.

"What I have is not a dream, but rather an ambition, because I _will_ make it a reality. What I desire is...the revival of my clan, and to kill a certain someone."

Silence.

Hinata shivered in place due to the killing intent leaking off of Sasuke's body.

 _I really hope that he doesn't want to kill me..._ Naruto thought to himself, sweat dripping down his face.

 _He must be talking about the Uchiha Massacre that happened years ago._ Hinata realized. She didn't know the details, but all she remembered was a member of the Main House blurting out something about the Uchiha Clan getting massacred all in one night. No one knew that Hinata was around listening at that time.

 _Just as I thought. So, I'm working with a boy who aims high but is overconfident, a girl who has good intentions but is shy and doesn't seem fit for the cruel work of a Shinobi, and then the other boy sounds like your typical avenger._ Kakashi let out a quiet sigh which the Genin didn't hear.

"Alright, the three of you all have unique personalities. I like that. We're going to begin a mission starting tomorrow." Kakashi informed the Genin.

"And what kind of mission is that, sensei?" Naruto questioned with a smile.

"First, we're going to do something that the four of us can do."

"What, what, what, what, what is it?" Naruto questioned Kakashi even further, wanting to know what the mission was badly, since it was his first one.

"Survival training." Kakashi answered.

"Survival training?" Naruto repeated out of confusion.

"Also, another thing, this 'training' is a test." Kakashi added.

"WHAT?!" Naruto rose from the step he was sitting on as he fumed with anger.

"Out of the 27 graduates, only nine are going to actually become Genin. The other 18 will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, the chance you guys have of passing this test is 33%." Looks of shock appeared on the Genin's faces, even Sasuke was surprised.

"No way! I went through so much trouble just to get here!" Naruto complained as he remembered stealing the Scroll of Sealing, finding out about his terrible birthright of being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, and how Mizuki wanted to kill Naruto for the scroll. "Then what was the final exam for?"

"Oh, that? It just picks out those who are qualified to become a Genin. Anyways, I'm going to determine whether you are worthy enough to move onto being a true Genin. Bring your ninja equipment and meet at 5 A.M at Training Ground 3!" Kakashi's loud and intimidating voice which he brought out at that moment made the Genin quiver, even Sasuke found his hands shaking.

 _I can't fail here. I don't care about the other two, but I cannot be sent back to the Academy! That will only hold me back even further in my goal!_ Sasuke gained an angry expression on his face at the aspect of getting held back in the Academy just because he was paired with a dumbass and a shy girl with confidence issues.

 _I'm not going to let a thing like this drop me down. I need to make him recognize my skills, for real!_ Naruto formed a fist with his hand, his determination rising.

 _If I fail this, not only will I be separated from Naruto-kun, but Father will be even more disappointed in me then he already is! Plus, there is a chance I might hold back Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun…_ Hinata realized. Unlike her two teammates, instead of her determination rising, hers only got lower and more vulnerable.

Kakashi stood and turned around, his face facing the Genin.

"Well, that's it for now, see you guys tomorrow." Kakashi was just about to leave but he remembered something. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up if you do."

And with a proof of smoke, Kakashi teleported away.

Hinata wasn't sure if she wasn't hearing things, but she could have sworn Sasuke mutter, "Shunshin no Jutsu (Teleportation Jutsu)."

The next thing she knew, she saw Sasuke running off without even saying a word to her teammates, leaving just her and Naruto.

Naruto let out a sigh as he said, "Well, I'm going to head over to Ichiraku. Later, Hinata."

Hinata wanted to ask him if she could join him, but that would make for a very awkward situation.

Plus, she really wasn't hungry at the moment…

* * *

 **Later-Hyuga Manor-At Night-Hinata's Room**

After taking a shower and other things, Hinata changed into her pajamas and plopped down onto her bed. With the lights off, she merely stared at the ceiling.

 _Tomorrow will determine whether I become a Ninja or not…_ Hinata relayed through her mind. _I hope I'm strong enough to pass, I don't want Naruto-kun thinking I am weak._

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The sounds of a hand hitting across the door to Hinata's room was heard.

"Yes?"

The door opened, and in walked a man with long black hair, featureless eyes like Hinata, and traditional loose fitting robes with a long sleeved, brown haori.

"F-Father?!" Hinata gasped as she quickly rose from the bed and gave her father a bow.

The current head of the Hyuga clan, Hiashi Hyuga, also the father of Hinata and Hanabi Hyuga, looked at he daughter with rather stoic and emotionless eyes.

Such eyes made Hinata a little uncomfortable when she was in his presence.

Correction: Very uncomfortable.

"Have you been assigned to your team?" Hiashi asked her daughter, not even bother to say 'hello' or 'how are you doing?'

"Yes." Hinata answered politely. "We are having a survival test tomorrow to determine whether we truly become Genin or get sent back to the Academy."

"Very well. Do well, and try not to be a burden to your teammates." Hiashi said, causing Hinata to look at the ground.

There it was, her own father didn't even acknowledge her. Sometimes she wonders whether all of this was worth it. Becoming a Ninja and all.

Hinata had wanted to cry multiple times in front of Hiashi whenever she would bring her confidence and self-esteem down, but Hiashi was the head of the clan and her father, she couldn't afford to cry in front of him.

"Hinata, are you listening to me?" Hiashi's voice rang through Hinata's ears as she was brought out of her thoughts.

"I-I'm sorry." Hinata took a quick bow of apology to her father.

Hiashi let out a small sigh, closing his eyes as he repeated what he said while Hinata was spacing out.

"Who are your teammates and Jonin sensei?" Hiashi questioned.

"Oh um...my teammates are Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki." Hinata answered quietly, with her voice unsteady slightly.

 _The last Uchina AND the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki…_ Although he showed no reaction or emotion on the outside, he was slightly caught off guard from the team, as he had expected Hinata to be placed on a Tracking Team due to the Byakugan.

"My sensei is Kakashi Hatake." Hinata added.

 _First those two and now the Copy Ninja?_ Hiash thought to himself.

"Very well, that is all." Hiashi turned around and walked out of the door, however, he stopped right at the doorway. "Show up at the time he specified. Although he makes no effort to make it on time, that doesn give you the right as a Hyuga to show up late failure or not. And remember, don't be a burden to your teammates."

That was the second time he said that to her in the entirety of this conversation.

"Yes, Father." Hinata croaked as if she had lost her voice. When the door was slid shut and Hinata knew that Hiashi was far enough, she began to shed tears.

 _Why? Why doesn't he show me any appreciation? It's already bad that the entire clan treats me bad, but it's even worse if it's my own father!_ Hinata sobbed.

Oh, how she wished her mother was alive right now. If only she hadn't died giving birth! She could be here to help and encourage Hinata.

Occasionally, Hinata would mourn and pay her respects to her mother in her own room, because for some odd reason, the members of the clan never buried her mother's body when she died.

To this day, it was still a mystery she never knew the solution too.

* * *

 **The Next Morning-Training Ground–5:00 A.M.**

The three Genin had all met up where Kakashi had instructed them to be. Following what they said, all three of them skipped eating breakfast.

Due to waking up so early, each of the three had different looks on their faces.

Naruto: He looked like he was sleepwalking, he was that tired.

Sasuke: He looked like how he normally does, no smile in sight yet no sight of exhaustion as well.

Hinata: A mix of the two, she has one of her eyes closed due to sleepiness, but isn't as sleepy as Naruto as she decided to go to sleep earlier.

The team waited.

And waited,,,

And waited…

But no sign of Kakashi.

During their time waiting, the group was completely silent. No one saying a single word to the other. Sweat started to roll down Hinata's face due to how awkward the situation was.

She wanted to say something, but she was too shy to say something to Naruto and Sasuke would probably just ignore her like he did to basically everybody.

 _This isn't good, at this rate, the both of them will just think of me as a burden if I don't get along with them…_ Hinata panicked as she started to push her index fingers towards each other.

The team waited for a couple of hours, to the point where they didn't even know what time it was. The only clue they had was that the sun was already up, where when they arrived, it was nowhere in sight.

Suddenly, much to Team 7's surprise, Kakashi appeared to the scene in a poof of smoke...finally.

"Hello children. Good morning." He greeted nonchalantly.

"You're late!" Naruto accused as he jabbed a finger in Kakashi's direction.

Kakashi performed an eye smile and came up with an responded. What did he say you ask?

"A black cat crossed my path and scratched my mask to shreds, so I had to get another mask and take the long way."

Kakashi began to chuckle awkwardly at the excuse, however, at seeing his the not amused expressions on the Genin, he cleared his throat.

"Anyway." Kakashi walked over to a stump in the ground and placed a clock, clicking a button on it. "Alright, alarm set at 12 P.M."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata's attention turned to Kakashi's hand when they heard a jingling noise. They saw two metallic bells drooping from his hand.

"The mission is for you guys to get the bells from me." Kakashi informed the Genin. "The ones who can't will have no lunch. I will tie you to one of those stumps," Kakashi gestured over to where the alarm clock was, where there were actually 3 stumps of wood. "And then, I will eat lunch in front of you."

At that moment, the stomachs of the three Genin began to howl out for hunger, craving for food to enter its inner sanctum.

The faces of the three dropped as they suddenly realized why Kakashi had them skip breakfast.

"Umm...sensei, Why is there only two bells?" Hinata asked the Jonin.

Kakashi gave her an eye smile.

"Since there is only two bells, at least one of you will have to be tied to the log." Kakashi explained. He then added, "That person will fail since he or possibly she in your case, failed to complete the mission. The one who failed will be sent back to the Academy." Kakashi swung the bells in his hand as he said that.

 _Oh no, that means no matter what happens, only two of us is going to pass._ Hinata widened her eyes ever so slightly.

After some thinking, Hinata came to a conclusion. And, thanks to always being looked down on, it wasn't a good one.

 _Maybe I should just give it to Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun, after all, they both have dreams that are very important to them. I would...just be a burden…_ Hinata's face dropped to look down at the ground.

The thing was, no matter how hard she tried, she was just going to fail in the end. So why waste this opportunity on her when she really wouldn't go anywhere in the end.

Naruto and Sasuke were nowhere near as bad as her. Although Naruto fails quite a bit, he at least had the determination to pick himself back up and keep going. Sasuke was a prodigy. But what was she?

That's right, she was just Hinata Hyuga. The failure who will most likely end up getting sealed and thrown into the Branch Family. She already had lost her place as heiress to Hanabi, if she failed here, it would just get her inevitable fate done with.

"It might be one of you. Who knows, maybe all three of you will fail." At this, Hinata snapped out of her thoughts and continued to listen.

"You can use your shuriken. You won't be able to get this unless you have the will to kill me." Kakashi told the Genin as he yanked up the balls and caught them in his fist.

"B-But that's dangerous, sensei." Hinata spoke her mind, clearly not agreeing with the conditions.

"She's right" Naruto laughed as he grinned and threw his arms around his neck. "You couldn't even dodge that chalk eraser!"

"Ah, the typical class clown. Usually the blockhead with the worst scores and least amount of skills. It's usually best to just ignore them." Kakashi countered Naruto's taunt as the blonde glared at him as he growled out of irritation. He turned to Hinata. "Then we have the little flower. In society, the ones who wouldn't dare shed a single drop of blood to others out of fear for their safety. Also usually one of the weak links, the ones who are nowhere near ready to handle the harsh life of a Shinobi."

Hinata widened her eyes as she felt those words hit her bones like sticks and stones.

"We're going to start after I say 'start.'" Kakashi told the group.

 _Guy with the lowest scores? Blockhead?_ Naruto's head replayed the jabs thrown at him by Kakashi's words as his reckless temper grew, his bullheadedness taking action.

In an instant, Naruto ripped open the pouch on his leg and snatched a kunai, twirling in his hand with great speed with his middle finger through the hole.

He achieved a tight grip on the kunai as he let out a yell, quickly rushing at Kakashi, kunai raised. The next thing he knew however, Kakashi was no longer in front of him, and he found a hand holding his head down with his own hand being restrained by another hand, the sharp end of the kunai aiming its sights right for the back of Naruto's head.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata gasped out of shock as they didn't even see Kakashi move from his spot, and here he was, behind Naruto, already with the upper hand.

"Don't get so hasty, now. I didn't say, 'start,' yet." Kakashi reminded Naruto. After Hinata and Sasuke took a few steps back, Kakashi released his grip on Naruto, prompting the Genin to take a few steps away, gripping his the wrist Kakashi had grabbed.

 _No way...I didn't even see him move…_ Hinata thought to herself.

 _So this is a Jonin..._ Sasuke analyzed Kakashi. The guy was playing the act of an idiot the entire time to make himself seem like a weakling. It was so simple yet the deception was hidden so well. Is this how all Jonin were?

"I'll give you one thing, you came at me with the intent to kill." Kakashi chuckled as a small smile creeped up under his mask. "I think I am beginning to like you three. Remember, when I give the word."

"Ready!"

The three Genin already prepared themselves to jump away when Kakashi said the one word that would start it all.

A bit of time passed, and it was a time of silence as the Genin awaited the next word. Hinata twisted her foot more into the ground so she could further maximize her leap.

She was ready, fail or not, she wanted to make sure that her teammates passed. She would not be a burden, especially not in front of Naruto!

"Start!"

* * *

 **And that was it for the first chapter of this fanfiction. Now, this my second fanfiction with an actual storyline kind of thing, but in actuality, this is the third fic I've made on this site.**

 **And this is also my first Naruto fic too, so bear with me.**

 **So, as you can see from the chapter, there will be a few things that I will be doing while writing.**

 **I will mostly be following the subbed, so don't be surprised by the honorifics. However, catchphrases like 'dattebayo', 'usrantonkatchi', and 'shanarro' will not be featured in this fic, so sorry if you are a fan of those phrases. Of course, Shikamaru will still say 'How troublesome' or whatever from time to time.**

 **I might go back at some point and make some edits to the chapter, so be sure to look out for any of those. The edits could sometimes be an added detail, dialogue, or even an added scene altogether.**

 **When stating the Jutsu names, I will have the subbed names, and then the English names next to it. For example…**

 **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Jutsu)**

 **Also, when writing names, I won't do the traditional reverse name thing in Japanese. You know, like Uzumaki Naruto or Uchiha Sasuke. It will be like how I did in the chapter. Also, don't expect any macrons in the names like Hyuga, cause honestly having to struggle just go get that crap done and make sure I didn't leave any out is just troublesome. Plus, I never really liked how they looked anyway.**

 **Furthermore, when addressing family members, I will say things like 'Mother,' or 'Father'. I won't be using things like kaa-san and stuff. When adressing the Hokage and stuff, I will either say '# Hokage' or 'somethingdaime'.**

 **Of course, I am not the best writer, far from it. So any suggestions or any sort of criticism is allowed.**

 **Now, as for why I'm doing this fic…**

 **I don't have a reason! This is more of like an experiment fic, to say how far I can go.**

 **Just letting you know, I have nothing against the original Team 7 (Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura). I just wanted to see what** _ **I**_ **could do with the change I implemented. Of course, there might be some other changes along the way.**

 **Now, unless I am forgetting something there should only be one thing left to address.**

 **My update schedule…**

 **I don't have one. When I upload a chapter is always going to be random. I will try to post a couple a month, but I'm not making any promises.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of this fic, bye.**


	2. Those Who Are Scum

"Start!"

After hearing the sound of Kakashi's voice, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata seemingly leaped away from the Jonin, aiming for a hiding spot particularly somewhere in the trees.

When she got to her hiding spot, Hinata preformed a couple of hand signs, eventually ending with the Snake hand sign. She uttered only one word.

"Byakugan!"

Veins began to sprout around Hinata's eyes as she activated her Kekkei Genkai. Thanks to his, she was now able to see everywhere around her in a 360 degree rotation. Albeit, she could only see 50 meters.

Kakashi closed his eye as he waited for a couple of seconds.

 _The three of them have hidden themselves well._ Kakashi was impressed as he reopened his eye. They were only Genin and yet they-

"Huh?"

"You and me! Fair and square! Let's go!" The voice of Naruto Uzumaki made Kakashi immediately take back the praise he had aimed towards three Genin, with it only going to Hinata and Sasuke now.

Naruto was standing out in broad daylight, arms crossed, eyes squinting, speaking loudly, and to top it all off a cocky smile on his face.

Kakashi's head dropped at Naruto's statement. One of the key parts of being a Shinobi is getting the jump on an enemy. Doing that could mean the difference between life and death.

 _That useless idiot._ From where he was hiding, Sasuke could see both Kakashi and Naruto, but even if he couldn't see Naruto, his loud voice would pretty much give his position away easily.

 _I don't think standing out in the open is a good idea, Naruto-kun…_ Hinata thought to herself. _Maybe he has something cool up his sleeve!_ That idea must have seen like a prayer though, as they were all just newly appointed Genin.

"You know, compared to the other two, you're a little...weird." Kakashi told the Uzumaki.

"The only thing that's weird around here is your gravity-defying hair style!" Naruto retorted as he rushed towards Kakashi, letting out a battle cry while doing so.

While he was doing this, the cyclops Jonin dug his hand into the pouch strapped onto his side. Naruto's eyes picked up this sudden action and quickly leaped backwards, coming to a stop. He readied himself for whatever would come out of that pouch, whether it would be a kunai or some shuriken.

"Shinobi Battle Techniques, part 1: Taijutsu. The art of physical combat. I'll teach you that first." Kakashi said as he began to pull something out of the pouch.

 _But I thought Taijutsu was hand-to-hand combat, so why is he grabbing a weapon?_ Naruto's lip parted slightly out of confusion.

Kakashi pulled out the item he was reaching for fully. It revealed itself to be…

An orange book, titled Icha Icha Paradise.

And the way Kakashi had his uncovered eye looking at Naruto didn't make the entire scene convincing to be something serious.

"Huh?!" Naruto's jaw dropped at the sight of the book. Was he going to whack him with the book? Even then, that's still not hand-to-hand combat.

"Something the matter? Come on and make your move." Kakashi spoke, getting slightly impatient at Naruto's lollygagging, something a ninja definitely shouldn't do in a real battle. This already wasn't looking good,

"But why the hell did you take out a book?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Why? To see what happens next in the story, of course." Kakashi averted his lone eye from Naruto and onto the book he pulled out, which was already opened. "Don't worry. Whether I read this or not, the result of the fight will be the same."

Naruto growled as he formed a fist with his hand. He began to rush towards Kakashi once again, his left hand reeling back for a nasty punch.

"I'm going to clobber you!" Naruto proclaimed as he jumped into the air and threw a punch towards Kakashi's head, only for the Jonin to block it with his free hand. Naruto cursed as he dropped to the ground, releasing a roundhouse kick to Kakashi's legs, planning to make the Hatake fall to the ground so he could get on top of him and take one of the bells.

Although this didn't work as Kakashi simply took a small hop onto the air, with the attention of his only eye still on the page he was reading. Naruto quickly recovered and jumped back up to his feet.

"GOD DAMN IT!" The blond leaped forward as he threw a punch towards Kakashi's face once again. However, to his surprise, Kakashi was gone. "What?"

"A ninja should not let their enemy get behind them, idiot."

Thanks to her Byakugan, Hinata had next to no trouble seeing that Kakashi had his book closed, and the posture of his hand was in the seal of the tiger.

 _The seal of the tiger? Sensei truly means to hurt Naruto-kun!_

Jumping out of her hiding spot and immediately rushing towards the two in an attempt to save her comrade, she managed to yell out loud, "Run, Naruto-kun! He's planning to use a high-level ninjutsu on you!"

"Too late." Kakashi said, prompting Naruto to shoot his head behind him, glancing right at Kakashi, but as the latter had said, it was too late. Kakashi's viewable eye twinkled a white light as the cyclops prepared an attack. "Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu!"

"AHH!" Naruto screamed, fearing for the worst, however, Naruto's face contorted into one of embarrassment. Their sensei wasn't using a high-level ninjutsu at all. Hinata froze in her tracks as she saw what Kakashi was truly doing. He was STICKING HIS FINGERS UP NARUTO'S ASS!

"A Thousand Years of Death!" Kakashi exclaimed as Naruto blasted away, clutching his butt while screaming out of pain, eventually falling into the small lake nearby.

A tint of red filled Hinata's cheeks, as she tried to forget the fact that Kakashi had stuck his fingers up Naruto's butt.

"Both of them are idiots." Sasuke muttered to himself.

"Let's see, where was I?" The nonchalant ninja mumbled, opening his book, trying to find the page he was on as if he never molested a 12-year old boy. He seemingly was not paying any attention to Hinata. However…

"What's wrong, little flower? Aren't you going to attack?" Kakashi questioned the girl who was frozen in her tracks.

Kakashi's voice had broke Hinata out of her trance. Hinata inwardly cursed herself for revealing herself. She was too close to run away, and even if she did, Kakashi would see where she would go, she had no choice but to fight.

Hinata took the initiative and sunk into a battle stance, one which Kakashi immediately realized.

"The Gentle Fist, eh? And the Byakugan to boot. Let's see what the prestigious Hyuga clan can do." Kakashi took his eyes off of his book, and looked at Hinata, clearly paying her more attention than against Naruto. Kakashi turned his body to face Hinata, and with his free hand making the "Come on" signal.

Hinata knew that Kakashi was testing them, so he wasn't going to make the first attack. He was going to let the Genin show him what they could do, and then counter.

With this knowledge, she opened the pouch strapped to her leg and pulled out some shuriken, throwing them at Kakashi, each one of them aiming for one of his body parts.

Hinata took the initiative and rushed Kakashi, but not before enfusing her palms with some chakra to do some internal damage to Kakashi.

The Jonin merely sidestepped the oncoming shuriken, something which Hinata had expected him to do, now that he was open, Hinata aimed a strike for Kakashi's arm.

The masked man leaned back slightly and quickly grasped Hinata's hand, recovering quickly from the sudden shock of now being able to move that hand, Hinata rotated her body about 90 degrees so she was facing Kakashi, preparing to strike him in the chest.

However, before the Juken (Gentle Fist) strike could even connect, Kakashi had threw Hinata off her feet and swayed her over to Kakashi's back.

The next thing Hinata knew, her hair was whipping through the air as if wind was blowing against her constantly. And she then found herself letting out a small cry of pain as her back collided with the cruel ground.

Hinata used her free hand to launch her body up slightly, aiming to kick Kakashi in the stomach. If she were in the air at the moment, she might have an able to do a full backflip with how she lifted herself.

Kakashi blocked the kick with his arm so he didn't have to let go of Hinata's wrist. Hinata's leg fell to the ground again as she performed a sweep kick. Their target, Kakashi's legs.

The spiky-haired Jonin blocked the kick by raising his foot slightly, letting it take the hit.

Hinata took her chance to reach over and grab one of the two bells that Kakashi had in his possession. Seeing this action from the girl, Kakashi let go of her hand and leaped backwards, making it do Hinata didn't even feel the bells.

Hinata quickly used both her hands as support to launch herself back up to her feet as reached into her pouch in a hurry and frantically threw two shuriken, one of which had really bad aim, veering off to the right, not even coming close to hitting Kakashi, who caught the other shuriken using the pointer and middle finger of his free hand.

"No way!" Hinata gasped out of shock after seeing how easily Kakashi caught that shuriken.

Kakashi flicked his wrist forward, releasing the lone shuriken back to Hinata, who took a deep duck to her right to avoid getting hit.

Hinata pressed her foot against the ground, adding enough force so she could push of her foot and get some momentum, minimizing the amount of time needed to reach Kakashi.

Hinata engaged Kakashi as she traded blows with the Jonin, who used only one hand to block the oncoming assault or he would just turn his body. Finally, Kakashi decided it was time to stop toying with the girl.

During the course of this little exchange, Kakashi had been noticing that the girl had been hesitating to come at him with killing intent. And she got nervous too easily, despite this being merely a test, and not a real battle, where the stakes were much higher.

Heck, when she threw the first couple of shuriken, Kakashi had noticed that she didn't aim for any vital spots, really just for his head, shoulders, and legs.

The thing is, her kindness is hindering her performance. Outside of the line of duty, being kind to others wasn't a problem, but when in a real battle, where messing up and hesitating could mean certain death, that is something that couldn't be tolerated.

However, this wasn't something huge at the moment, she will just have to learn how to be a true Shinobi as she goes on.

Hinata threw a palm aiming for Kakashi's head, the Jonin parried the Attack with his free hand and jammed his knee right into Hinata's stomach, knocking the wind out of the girl as she tried her best not to salivate, letting out a whimper as she stepped backwards, clutching her stomach as she dropped to the ground on her knees, breathing heavily.

Had this been a real fight, Kakashi's attack would have been nothing to a high-level Jonin like himself, but Hinata was a fresh Genin, so it was no surprise that she felt quite a bit of pain from that knee.

"Not bad, but you really need to choose a better time of when to help your teammate. What you did there only hindered the team. Not only were you too late to help Naruto, but you revealed yourself and you're now in this situation." Kakashi lectured the lavender-eyed kunoichi.

Suddenly, two shuriken whizzed right out of the lake, going right for Kakashi, who lifted his free hand in skillfully slid the two shurikens into his pointer and middle fingers using the hole that the throwing stars had in the middle. It was just big enough for Kakashi to fit his finger. The shuriken kept on spinning, eventually coming to halt and sliding down Kakashi's finger, stopping at his knuckles with a slight tilt.

Once again, Hinata was impressed by Kakashi's skill with catching shuriken in motion.

Out of the lake came a soaking wet Naruto, who was taking what little time had to catch his breath. Kakashi turned his attention to him, as Hinata was too winded to do anything.

"What's the matter? You won't get any lunch if you don't get a bell by noon." Kakashi reminded Naruto, who rose his head and looked at the Jonin with a frustrated look.

"I already know that!"

"You said you're going to become Hokage and surpass the previous ones, but your actions say otherwise."

As if on cue with Kakashi's statements, the stomachs of the three Genin let out a hungry growl. The growl of their stomachs made Naruto even more frustrated, Hinata more panicked than she already was, and the growl even made Sasuke slightly flustered.

"I was just off guard a while ago!" Naruto complained to Kakashi, who paid him no heed and was walking away at a slow pace. Naruto lowered his voice. "Damn, I need to get one to those bells...there is no way I can fail at a place like this!"

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata stuttered after her ears picked up Naruto's quiet words. If one were to pay attention, they would notice that there was a slight movement in the water of the lake that was behind Naruto.

"I swear, I'm going to become a ninja!" Naruto declared as launching right out of the lake was 7 other Narutos.

"There are...7 Naruto-kuns!" Hinata counted as she smiled. He was so amazing!

"How about this?! This is my ultimate technique! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)!" Naruto announced.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?" Sasuke repeated in an interested tone. The dead last of their class could use a Jutsu like that?

 _And from the looks of it, those clones are just mere images to fake out the opponent. It seems like those clones can actually interact with the environment. They're actually real! In fact, I can't even tell which one is the real one, even with my Byakugan!_ Hinata noted, watching all of the Naruto clones rush towards the Jonin.

"Very impressive for a Genin to be able to use a technique like that, but as you are now, that technique won't be able to beat me." Kakashi said. He felt the bells at his side jingle, followed by a pair of arms wrapping around his stomach. "What?! From behind?!"

Kakashi turned his head to see that the owner of the hands was Naruto, who was grinning widely.

"Amazing, Naruto-kun." Hinata smiled as she kept her distance from the fight, not wanting to get in the way.

"You said that a ninja shouldn't let an enemy get behind him, didn't you, Kakashi-sensei?" As Naruto spoken the other Naruto clones dispersed, three clones going to one of Kakashi's legs and restraining him. However, there was one Naruto left, and that one leaped into the air, preparing a punch.

"I'm going to pay you back for that attack on my butt!" Naruto declared as he unleashed his punch. Hinata was gloating inwardly about how cool Naruto was, and even Sasuke had admitted to himself that what Naruto had just pulled wasn't a bad stunt…

That's what he thought until his eyes viewed what happened next.

Instead of Naruto's fist meeting with Kakashi, it was met with another Naruto, who had his eyes white with shock. The Naruto who was punched fel to the ground, taking the Naruto restraining him down also.

"You…" The Naruto that punched whispered, before pointing his finger accusingly at the now downed Naruto. "You must be Kakashi-sensei! You transformed in order to make me think that I punched one of my clones, didn't you!"

A large fight ensued between all of the Naruto's, until eventually, after a massive beating, the real Naruto dispelled the Jutsu.

"That was the Kamawiri no Jutsu (Substitution Jutsu), dumbass." Sasuke muttered under his breath, his opinion on Naruto immediately returning to normal.

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw a bright sparkle. He turned his head, to see one of Kakashi's bells lying on the ground. At the sight of this, Naruto let out a wide smile.

"He must've dropped his bell in all of the commotion!" Naruto laughed as he ran over to pick up the bell.

Thanks to her Byakugan, Hinata was able to see what Naruto was doing, and while she was glad a bell was on the ground, it just seemed to be too easy. That and, the sight of a hidden Kakashi nearby all but confirmed her worries.

"Naruto-kun! It's a trap!" Hinata exclaimed, she could tell by Naruto's body movements that he was about to stop, but it was too late, Naruto's foot was immediately caught in a rope and he soon found himself hanging upside down from a tree.

"Use your techniques after thinking things carefully." The voice of Kakashi was heard as he reached down to pick up the bell. "That's why it was used to your disadvantage. That, and…" Creepy eye smile from Kakashi, "If a trap is obvious, don't fall for it, stupid."

A tic mark grew on Naruto's head as he struggled to free himself from the trap.

"A ninja must see through deception." Kakashi lectured, only to be met with Naruto complaining about he already knew. "I'm telling you this because you don't know. You think you get it, but you don't."

As Kakashi continued his lecture, Hinata pondered on whether she should hel Naruto or not. Eventually, she decided it wasn't a good idea. As the results from before clearly proved that Hinata would get her assed kicked by Kakashi. The only chance she had was if Sasuke worked togeth-

 _Wait, that must be it!_ Hinata gasped out of realization.

Out of nowhere, a multitude of shuriken and kunai knives flew out of the area where Sasuke was hiding, and they were setting their sights on Kakashi.

He had let his guard down lecturing Naruto, now was the best chance to strike!

To Naruto and Hinata's surprise, the shuriken actually hit the Jonin, and the display on his impaled body was gruesome to say the least.

"Sasuke really overdid it…" Naruto murmured with wide eyes.

Although Sasuke's sneak attack was executed very well, it still wasn't enough.

The body of Kakashi poofed and out of a white cloud of smoke was a log, which had Sasuke's knives and shuriken heavily engraved upon it.

 _Damn it!_ Sasuke inwardly cursed as he ran away from his hiding spot. _He definitely knows my location just from that attack!_

Hinata began to run from her location, trying to get to Naruto as fast as she possibly could. Before running, she had double checked to make sure she couldn't see a Kakashi anywhere with her Byakugan.

Meanwhile, Naruto had cut himself down, declaring that he wouldn't fall for Kakashi's traps again, only for the trap to ensnare in its clutches as he took too long to move. Naruto noticed Hinata running towards him and let out a wide smile.

"Hinata! Are you here to free me?!"

"Y-Yes…" Hinata spoke meekly, as she took out a single shuriken, throwing it at the rope, causing Naruto to drop to the ground with a yell. After making sure Naruto wouldn't get caught in the trap again, she asked, "A-Are you okay?"

Naruto looked at her face and gave a foxlike grin. "Yeah, thanks." He stood up and punched his right palm. "I need to get a bell! I can't let Sasuke outdo me!"

"Umm...N-Naruto-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"I-I was just w-wondering...maybe this test isn't about getting the b-bells." Hinata proposed.

"What? What are you talking about? Kakashi-sensei specifically told us to snatch the bells from him! Were you even listening, Hinata?" Naruto asked the shy and timid girl.

Hinata's face turned red at Naruto's accusation. He could be right, there was a possibility that she was wrong. But she just had this gut feeling…

"Y-Yes, I was…" Hinata began to play with her fingers as she looked down at the ground so Naruto couldn't see her blush. "B-But maybe h-he said that to deceive us. A-After all, he said to you that a ninja must be able to see through deception."

Naruto thought about her words for a bit. In hindsight, it made sense. Now that he thought about, he had never heard of a two-man cell before. Even he knew that despite not even knowing many three-man cells.

And judging from who Kakashi is, it made perfect sense for the test to be something that they weren't expecting. But then again…

"How do I know you're not trying to deceive me!?" Naruto spoke in a low, and slightly harsh voice.

Hinata froze, with the way she worded that, it was very possible for it to be mistaken for deception. But could she convince Naruto that it wasn't a way to deceive him.

"N-Naruto-kun...I'm not trying to deceive you. That…is also one of the things I don't like…deceiving people." Hinata said with a frown on her face, sad at the fact that Naruto would accuse her of deception.

Naruto looked at the gloomy expression on Hinata's face. Frankly, whenever Naruto would see her face, it's one of the two most common facial expressions he sees, that and one of embarrassment.

And now that he thought about it, Hinata didn't seem like the type of person to do that kind of thing, to deceive people.

"Alright, what do you suggest we do?"

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

"I'm not like those two, the Hyuga and the dobe." Sasuke Uchiha retorted.

"Say that after you get a bell from me, Sasuke-kun." Kakashi replied as he walked out from the side of the tree, reading his Icha Icha book.

The two shared a stare down between each other, waiting for the other to make the move. Eventually, the wait would be too much for one of them to handle, and one of them would break apart and attack first.

That person just so happened to be Sasuke.

The last Uchiha released some shuriken in Kakashi's direction, who easily hopped to the side to avoid them as the sound of the shuriken whizzing by rang through his left ear and out his right.

Sasuke then took out a kunai knife and threw it towards a rope, slicing it into two, unleashing the surprise Sasuke had in store for Kakashi.

"A trap!" Kakashi realized once he saw Sasuke's target, once again diving to the side to avoid multiple kunai knives which were launched at him thanks to the rope being cut. Kakashi skidded to a halt, where Sasuke was right behind him, reading a kick. "What?!"

A loud sound could be heard through the first as Kakashi blocked Sasuke's flying side kick. With superb reaction time, Kakashi grasper Sasuke's foot, but he threw a hand in front of his face in order to stop a cross from Sasuke, who then followed up with a kick to the top of Kakashi's head, who also blocked it with his arm. Sasuke smirked

Now was his chance.

Sasuke threw out his remaining hand, aiming to grab at least one of the bells. Unfortunately for Sasuke, Kakashi had let go and jerked his body backwards, making it so Sasuke's middle finger barely grazed the bell.

 _What a guy. I didn't even get time to read Icha Icha Paradise._ Kakashi thought to himself impressed, as no Genin had been able to fight him without him holding back to the point where he restrained himself with no sight and one arm because of reading Icha Icha Paradise.

"Well, I'll admit, you are certainly different from the other two." Kakashi complimented, for what it was worth. Apparently nothing to Sasuke, who formed multiple hand signs ending with the horse sign, and then tiger as he brought his hands to his face, taking a deep breath as he did so.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)!"

"What?! A Genin shouldn't be able to do a technique like that, it requires too much chakra!" Kakashi exclaimed out of surprise.

Sasuke exhaled and out of his mouth came a ball of fire which scorched the area Kakashi was standing in, and Kakashi with it. Or so Sasuke thought, as when the fire dissipated, Kakashi was no longer there. Even if he got hit, the fire should leave a scorched Kakashi behind, so where was he?

"Behind? Above? Where is he?" Sasuke looked from left to right, in front of him, behind him, and finally above, but the one place he didn't look was…

"Beneath you!" Out of the ground, Kakashi's hand bursted out and grabbed Sasuke by the ankle, causing the Uchiha to gasp out of shock.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu)!"

The next thing Sasuke knew, his mouth was wide open, a scream flying out for the world to hear as the lone survivor of the Uchiha clan was dragged down into the ground.

* * *

 **Later**

"Damn it! Where could that lazy sensei be?!" Naruto shouted loudly, causing Hinata to flinch slightly as they ran throughout the forest, looking for Kakashi.

"Wait a minute, Naruto-kun, I can see Sasuke-kun in the ground." Hinata spoke suddenly, and with no stutter at that.

"What? How do you know? I don't see him anywhere!" Naruto began to think that Hinata was crazy.

"I can see him thanks to my Byakugan." Hinata revealed to Naruto.

"Byaku-what?"

"It doesn't matter at the moment." Hinata shoved the topic aside as she picked up the pace to get to Sasuke. If they wanted to complete this test, they had to do it as a team.

Eventually, they managed to make to Sasuke, with Naruto immediately laughing his ass off after seeing Sasuke's situation.

"Something funny, dobe?" Sasuke asked, irritated that the dead last was laughing at him when he was poked in the butt and blown away, and then wasted a good opportunity to get a bell just to get a punch in on the Jonin.

"Yeah, you." Naruto grinned, happy that for once the great Sasuke Uchiha wasn't winning at something.

"Well, can you help me out here?" Sasuke grew more annoyed as time went on. They were wasting time here! If things kept going on like this, he would never be able to get a bell, and then he would be held back, all because of these two losers!

"Hmm...let me think about that, no!" Naruto shook his head vigorously, choosing to savor this moment for the rest of his life.

"You…" Sasuke growled out of anger, but he calmed down when he noticed Hinata walking towards him.

"Naruto-kun, please come and help me get Sasuke-kun." Hinata pleaded with the boy to put his grudge against Sasuke to the side just for once.

After getting Sasuke out, the Uchiha immediately began to run off, without even thanking Naruto and Hinata.

"Wait, Sasuke-kun!" Hinata called to the boy.

"What do you want, Hyuga?!" Sasuke snapped. Hinata noticeably flinched at Sasuke's response and creeped back into her shell.

"Oi, bastard! She was trying to suggest a plan to help out all of us! She was going to suggest working as a team so we can get the bells together!" Naruto informed Sasuke, who merely scoffed at the idea.

"Us? Work as a team? Please, you two would only hold me back! Naruto, you're only good aspect is that Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and even then you suck at using it! Hinata's too soft for her own good! She shouldn't be a ninja!" Hinata's eyes began to water at Sasuke's last declaration, after hearing that from many other people in the past.

"Alright, that's it!" Naruto stepped forward and grabbed Sasuke's collar. "What's your problem, Mr. Rookie of the Year?!"

"My problem is you two! You're defending a weakling who can't defend herself and would only let her emotions get in the way! As I've said before, she's too soft! Such kindness will not last in the Shinobi world! What have you guys done to even attempt to get a bell?!" Sasuke questioned as he grabbed Naruto's collar.

"Guys...please, stop fighting…" Hinata pleaded, but her pleads were not answered.

"What were we doing?! What were _you_ doing!? You could have thrown those shuriken earlier, but NO, you just sat there like a pussy!"

" _I_ was waiting for an opening, unlike you! And for your information, I actually managed to touch one of the bells, _alone!_ Hinata tried to help you but all she got in return was our sensei shoving his knee into her stomach!" Sasuke continued to argue as both him and Naruto were gritting their teeth so hard that they looked like they could pop out of their mouths at any moment.

And meanwhile, Hinata was blaming this entire thing on herself. They were only fighting because of her. If it weren't for how weak she was, Sasuke wouldn't have insulted her, and then Naruto wouldn't have retaliated, which wouldn't have led to this argument.

No matter how hard she tried, she always ended up being a burden! If only she were stronger! If only-

 _RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!_

The three Genin froze, with Naruto and Sasuke loosening their grips on each other's collars.

It was noon.

And the test was over…

They had failed…

Sasuke retracted his hand and turned away, cursing under his breath as he walked away.

Naruto widened his eyes as an image spouted in his mind. He saw Kakashi sitting on top of a black stone, before smacking Naruto in the face, there was nothing after that.

The problem is.

He had sent a Kage Bunshin towards the stone.

* * *

 **Later**

Sasuke and Hinata found themselves sitting down on the ground, with Naruto next to them tied to a stump, with their stomachs growling irritably. Kakashi was right in front of them.

"Uh oh, stomachs growling, eh? Oh yeah, about the results of the training, I'd decided that none of you guys will return to the Ninja Academy." Kakashi told the Genin.

Naruto had a confused look, until a smile creeped on his face as he shouted, "ALRIGHT! Then that means…"

A smile inched up on Hinata's face. That means…

Naruto flailed his legs around his celebration. "That the three of us…"

Sasuke smirked to himself, but he kept his head down so the others couldn't see.

"Yes, the three of you…" Kakashi's voice then turned into a menacing tone, "Are permanently being dropped out of the program!"

The Genin froze, with Naruto gaping, Hinata frowning, and Sasuke scowling.

"Dropped from the program?! We couldn't get a bell, but why are we being dropped from the program?!" Naruto shut his eyes at he shouted, awaiting for an answer badly. But it wasn't one that he wanted to hear…

"It's because you three are merely just kids who don't even deserve to become a ninja." Kakashi told the three harshly.

"Tch!" Grunted Sasuke as he rose from his spot and began to angrily rush towards Kakashi, surprising both Naruto and Hinata. Unfortunately for Sasuke, the rush wasn't good, and he found himself pinned to the ground with Kakashi sitting on top of him, gripping his left arm tightly and holding down his head with his right foot.

"Do you guys think being a ninja is easy? Well, I can answer that, you think it's just some game!" Kakashi rose his voice a couple of notches to further emphasize the point. "Why do you think we're training in squads? The answer of this test lies in the fact there is 3 groups!"

"Umm...sensei, w-would the a-answer to the test be...t-teamwork?" Hinata asked, wanting to know if her theory was correct.

"Oh look here, the shy and timid one is the only one with a brain! You see, Hinata is the only one here who knew the answer to the test! If all three of you came at me at once, maybe you could have gotten a bell from me."

"But w-why is there only two bells?" Hinata inquired.

"And there is the extent of your brain. The test tries to put you three against each other due to the fact that there is only two bells. That was the true purpose, to see if you would put teamwork above yourself. Hinata!"

The girl rose her head at the call of her name, she looked a Kakashi straight in the eye.

"You were the only one who found out the true purpose of the test. Good job." Kakashi congratulated. "It's such a shame that you were placed on a team with these two. Naruto!"

The blonde closed his eyes, waiting to listen for his problems.

"All you did for most of the test was work on your own! And when Hinata approached you about the idea of teamwork, you probably thought that she was trying to deceive you, am I right?" Naruto gasped, how could he have known about that conversation! He was busy fighting Sasuke, wasn't he? "Trust is a crucial part of teamwork. If there is no trust between the members of a group, there is no teamwork! And _you!_ "

Kakashi put even more pressure on Sasuke's heads causing the boy to wince as he glared at the Jonin the best he could.

"You had thought that the other two were so far beneath you and you rejected them, and worked on your own completely! Naruto had at least agreed to the aspect of teamwork!" Sasuke growled at the prospect of being compared to Naruto, the dead last.

"Missions are almost always done in groups. It's true that ninjas need well-developed individual skills. However, it's teamwork that is much more important. Having something that disrupts teamwork will result in danger or even a fatality in the team! For example…"

Kakashi quickly pulled out a kunai and aimed it at Sasuke's neck.

"Naruto! Kill Hinata, or Sasuke will die!" Kakashi's voice sounded so convincing that Hinata gasped out of fear while Naruto looked at Sasuke and then at Hinata, back and forth. He hated Sasuke, but he just couldn't let someone die knowing that he could have helped someone.

But he didn't want to kill Hinata! The last thing he wants is the cold blood of a comrade on his hands.

"That is exactly what could happen in a real situation."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief after hearing that Kakashi wasn't serious.

"In a mission, you must be ready to put your life on the line." Kakashi got off Sasuke and walked over to a black stone nearby, which had multiple names engraved upon it. "See these names? All these names are those praised as heroes in this village."

"I like that! I like that! I've decided that I'm going to have my own name carved into that! A hero! A hero! I'm not going to die a useless death!" Naruto laughed as Sasuke rose to his feet and walked back to the logs.

"These people aren't normal heroes." Kakashi started, pausing for a bit, making Naruto impatient. "The people engraved on this stone have been K.I.A."

Hinata gasped out of horror.

"K.I.A?" Naruto questioned.

"Naruto-kun...t-that stands for killed in action." Hinata informed the boy, who stopped dead in his tracks. The grin on his face lingered, before disappearing completely, looking off to the side.

"The names of my friends are carved in here as well." Kakashi revealed.

Naruto frowned. God damn it, now he felt guilty for even mentioning that he wanted to be on the stone! Mentioning that might have brought back some painful memories for Kakashi.

Kakashi turned back towards the Genin. "You know what, I'll give you one more chance. However, the battle for the bell will be much harsher after lunch. Eat lunch only if you are up to the challenge. However, Naruto isn't allowed to eat."

"WHAAAAAT?!" Naruto shrieked as his stomach growled.

"This is punishment for that stunt you tried to pull. You sent a Kage Bunshin to try and eat lunch early. This is punishment for breaking the rule."

Naruto cringed. The jig was up, he had a bad feeling when that weird thing happened with that image of Kakashi. It was the memory of his Bunshin before it went poof. He was going to have to experiment with that later, if he got through this test without starving that is.

"If one of you two feed him, the person will immediately fail! I make the rules. I _am_ the rule. And you, follow the rules. Got it?"

And with that, Kakashi had left.

Hinata and Sasuke grabbed their bentos and opened it up. Naruto drooled at the sight of the food. Sasuke began to eat slowly, while Hinata just sat there as she heard Naruto's stomach.

Sasuke heard Hinata utter something, it sounded like 'Byakuga' or 'Bakugan'.

He then realized what she was doing when he saw the veins sprout around her eyes, she was scouting for Kakashi, making sure that he wasn't there so she could…

"Here, Naruto-kun." Hinata lifted her bento up to the blonde.

"No." The raven-haired Uchiha said as he held up his own bento to Naruto. This caught both of them off guard to the point where Hinata actually deactivated her Byakugan.

"I'm the strongest out of all of us. Hunger won't affect me as bad as you, Naruto. We need to do this as a team. He will only be a hindrance if he is hungry." Sasuke explained his reasoning.

"Naruto-kun, please have mine. I eat less than both you and Sasuke-kun. I'm not very hungry anyway." Hinata lied slightly. She was a little hungry, but the entire day has made her lose her appetite for the most part. "So please, don't worry about me."

 _Plus, there's no cinnamon rolls in these bentos..._

"Thank you, Hinata. I appreciate it...but…" Naruto moved his hand to get the point across that in his current position, Naruto couldn't do anything.

Hinata blushed heavily due to the fact that she would have to feed Naruto. Inside her mind, angels were flying off to heaven, chanting, " _I get to feed Naruto-kun. I get to feed Naruto-kun."_

"V-Very well…" Hinata submitted as she, with her now trembling hand, grabbed a rice ball with her chopsticks, and moved it up to Naruto's face, her heart beating to the point where she could feel it. The tingle of red Hinata had would not disappear. Thankfully, Naruto had his eyes closed as he opened his mouth, so he didn't see the blush. Sasuke, on the other hand, was watching the entire scene go down.

Naruto munched down on the rice ball as he chewed loudly, Hinata quickly faced the other way and let out a sigh of relief. Good, she succeeded...for now.

Suddenly, the wind's currents lashed out at the three Genin, although it was barely even feelable just a second ago. Out of a white cloud, came Kakashi's pissed off face.

" **YOU THREE!"**

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto screamed out of terror, as he couldn't move anywhere. Hinata and Sasuke covered their faces to protect themselves against the harsh currents of the wind lashing out at them.

Kakashi's eye twitched at the speed of light. It was that fast.

"You three broke the rule. Are you prepared for the punishment?" Kakashi formed multiple hand signs as stormy clouds began to form in the area. The thundering booms of a thunderstorm releasing their anger at the three Genin. "Any last words?"

"But...but...but...you said…" Naruto trembled, his lips trembling.

"Yes?"

"You said that we're three of us, and that's why Hinata and…" Naruto trailed off as he looked at the Uchiha for backup.

"We're a three man cell, we're all in it together!" Sasuke surprisingly stated.

"He's right! We're not going to leave one another behind! Because the three of us are one!" Hinata followed with determination burning in her pupiless eyes.

"Right! Right! Right! Right, ya know!" Naruto bellowed.

"For breaking the rules... _that_ is your excuse?!" Kakashi leaned close to the Genin with a menacing glare.

Suddenly, a smile appeared on the Jonin's face.

"You pass." Kakashi stated.

The three Genin merely stared at him as if he was a weirdo. This guy was just saying something about punishing them and now he's passing them?!

"What?" Naruto mumbled.

"YOU. PASS." Kakashi emphasized the two words by spacing them out. "Congrats, you three are the first to succeed! People I had previously, were blockheads who just listened to what I said. A ninja must see through deception."

"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true. But, those who abandon even one of their comrades...are worse than scum." Kakashi quoted the words of his late friend Obito Uchiha, the one who changed his outlook on the rules of Shinobi forever.

Tears began to flow into Naruto's eyes as he admitted that, "He's...He's kind of cool."

Kakashi gave a thumbs up to the new official team.

"The training ends here! All of you pass! Team 7 will start doing missions starting tomorrow!"

* * *

 **That seems to be it. Next chapter, we start the Land of Waves arc.**

 **I know that I am basically dragging off of canon, which can sometimes be a good thing or a bad thing. But this is the bell test, there is literally at least a couple hundreds of versions of the bell test on this fandom!**

 **And really, the only significance the bell test has was to teach Team 7 the lesson of teamwork, how strong a Jonin sensei is, and how far the power gap between them and the average Genin is.**

 **Well, there's not much to say here. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Later!**


	3. A C-Ranked Mission!

Kakashi and Sasuke had left immediately, not even bothering to cut Naruto from the stump. Sasuke, because he didn't care, and Kakashi...because he's Kakashi.

Hinata stayed behind and cut Naruto from the stump. It's not even that Naruto was the one who stuck to the stump. Even if Sasuke was tied to the stump, Hinata still would have helped him. Albeit, she wouldn't be as willing to help Sasuke than Naruto. Due to, 1. Her crush on Naruto, and 2. Sasuke intimidates the hell out of her.

"Thanks Hinata! It's good to know at least _someone_ on this team cares about me!" Naruto thanked the indigo-haired Hyuga, who blushed as a result.

"N-No problem." Hinata croaked, her anxiety for when she was around Naruto kicking in. Thankfully, it wasn't to the point where she would faint, but it was still bad.

 _How did I think I was going to last through this?_ Hinata wondered to herself. To say that she was in a weird and dysfunctional team was an understatement. First, there was Naruto, who Hinata can barely even converse with. Sasuke, who, as stated before, intimidates Hinata to no end. And then Kakashi...is Kakashi.

"Hey Hinata! Want to go get some Ichiraku with me? We can use it as a time to get to know each other better!" Naruto proposed an offer.

Hinata's face became even more red. _He just asked me out on a date! Well...it's close to a date at least. What do I do? What do I do? Think Hinata!_

"I-I would l-love to, Naruto-kun." Hinata accepted with a small smile.

"Excellent!" The blonde exclaimed, "Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go! I'm starving!" Naruto grabbed Hinata by the hand and practically dragged her.

There was two things Hinata noticed when Naruto grabbed her hand. 1. His hand was so big and strong. And it felt comforting as well. 2. Naruto was touching her hand! If she had died now, she would have no regrets...well, maybe some. Her face was so red that it looked like she had a fever.

There was one thing that Naruto noticed when his hand made contact with Hinata's. Two things actually. 1. Her hand was slightly smaller compared to his, and it was a little cold as well. 2. Hinata's skin was so soft! And that wasn't a bad thing.

In fact, Naruto actually kind of liked that her skin was so soft.

* * *

 **Later-At Ichiraku Ramen**

"Hey, old man!" Naruto's voice rang through the ears of Teuchi, the owner of the shop.

"Hey there! What can I get you?" Teuchi asked his best customer.

"A bowl of miso!" Naruto responded with a grin.

"And who might you be?" Teuchi turned his head to Hinata, a new who he has never seen in the restaurant before.

"She is Hinata Hyuga." Naruto spoke for the girl. "She's one of my teammates!"

"P-Pleased to meet you." Hinata nodded her head forward slightly as if she was bowing.

"And what I can I get you?" Teuchi asked the same question he asked Naruto.

"T-The same Naruto-kun is having." Hinata responded. Teuchi nodded as he left to go make the ramen.

"Hey there!" Teuchi's daughter, Ayame greeted after overhearing the conversation. "So this is your teammate? Aren't you supposed to have another one?"

"Uh huh, but it's that bastard Sasuke!" Naruto crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks out of annoyance. "I don't know what the hell is with that guy! He's so antisocial and all in all just an ass!"

"Umm...well, Naruto-kun...S-Sasuke-kun might not be s-so bad if you get to know him." Hinata played with her fingers, deciding to speak what she had on her mind.

"Hmm…" Naruto grumbled as he scrunched his eyes up even more.

"Didn't you say you wanted to be on a team with that girl Sakura?" Ayame questioned Naruto.

"Yeah, I really wanted her on my team! But Hinata isn't bad either." Naruto admitted, making Hinata blush at the praise she was getting.

"Though this team would be so much better if Sasuke wasn't an ass!" Naruto yelled out loud, causing Hinata to flinch at the sudden change in volume of Naruto's voice.

"Haha." Ayame chuckled. "You must really not like Sasuke if you're talking abour him in that regard."

"Mmmhmm!" Naruto nodded as Ayame went to work.

The next couple of minutes were probably some of the most awkward in Hinata's life, they were just sitting there, not saying a word to each other. However, at some point, Naruto decided that he had enough of the silence and decided to say something.

"Hinata, I was just wondering." Naruto started, Hinata made a sound to let Naruto know that she was listening. Naruto took a deep breath. Hinata had noticed that Naruto's fingers were tapping the table in front of him, as if to show that he was anxious. "What is it like to have a mother and father?"

The question repeated inside of Hinata's head multiple times.

" _What is it like to have a mother and father?"_

" _What is it like to have a mother and father?"_

" _What is it like to have a mother and father?"_

Hinata's face visibly saddened, however, Naruto didn't notice this as Hinata was looking down at the table. Hinata took a look at Naruto's face and saw Naruto's eyes.

They were full of a desire. A want. Something that he wanted to know desperately. And she already knew why he asked the question. Because Naruto grew up with no parents. He didn't know the love of a mother or father.

Guilt filled her eyes, she belittled herself for being a burden yet again. The one time Naruto needed something, she couldn't do it for him.

"N-Naruto-kun...I don't think I can answer that for you...very well…" Hinata said in a barely audible whisper. But Naruto managed to pick up what she said.

"Huh? Why?!" Naruto enquired in an interested manner.

"M-My mother...died giving birth to my sister when I was 5 years old. And my father...my father...he barely pays attention to me anymore...he thinks of me as a burden…in fact, basically everyone from my clan thinks of me that way..." Hinata spoke with tears appearing in her eyes.

What was she doing crying? In front of Naruto no less. That she didn't know why. Naruto had it much worse than her, yet she was the one crying. Hinata at least felt love at some point in her life. Naruto on the other hand, barely has anyone to love him...

 _God damn it Naruto! Out of all the things you could have asked, it had to be the sensitive one!_ Naruto inwardly scolded himself.

"I'm sorry." Naruto apologized as he clapped his hands together, facing Hinata. "I was careless."

Hinata was surprised that Naruto was actually acting like this towards her of all people. She shook her head from side to side.

"I-It's ok. You didn't know." Hinata gave Naruto a small smile to reassure the boy, but it didn't do much to help.

If Hinata wasn't around, Naruto would have let out a small smile. He was kind of glad that there was someone who can relate to him in a way. Albeit, he did feel bad for the girl still.

 _I guess Hinata isn't as weird as I thought. She's really nice actually._ Naruto thought to himself with a small smile.

"Here's your food!" Teuchi presented the bowls to Naruto and Hinata. "And tell you what, since you succeeded in officially becoming a ninja, this one is on the house!"

Naruto jolted out of his crummy mood, "Awesome! Thanks old man!"

The next couple of minutes was spent with Hinata sipping down one bowl, and deciding that she was finished. Naruto on the other hand...consumed about 9 more bowls before deciding that he was finished.

"I-I should be going now. Father must be expecting me home." Hinata told Naruto.

"Right. See ya later! And Hinata…"

"Y-Yes?"

"You're a cool person!" Naruto flashed her a thumbs up. "Don't listen to the people who try to discourage! You can be really strong if you just put your heart into it!"

Hinata's jaw opened as a blush rushed onto her face. Naruto had just complimented her! He has faith in her. He thinks that she can be strong!

"Umm...uhh...th-th-thank y-you!" Hinata stammered with a bright red face as she ran away, both happy and embarrassed at the same time.

Naruto looked at her figure as it got farther and farther away from him. Suddenly, the entire atmosphere around became lonely when she was out of sight. It was the same as it always has been in his childhood. However, this time around, it wasn't as bad. There was a little shimmer of light now in this dark atmosphere of solitude that he has been all to acquainted with for all of his life.

"Did I...just make a friend?"

* * *

 **Days Later**

When Hiruzen Sarutobi took over the office after the death of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, he had never expected the job to become increasingly more irritating when a certain blonde-haired boy named Naruto Uzumaki became a Genin.

"COME ON! I WANT DO A MORE EXCITING MISSION! NOT THIS LITTLE KID STUFF, CHOOSE SOMETHING ELSE!" Naruto shouted at the Third.

 _I hate to admit it, but the dobe's got a point._ Sasuke inwardly agreed with Naruto.

 _Naruto-kun..._ Hinata had completely wished that she wasn't in the room at that moment. Naruto's yelling was making a scene, and all the attention of the people in the room was on Team 7, which included her.

"You idiot!" Iruka stood up from his chair as he slammed the table. "You're still a newly appointed Genin! Everyone needs to start with easy missions to gain experience!"

"Are you kidding me?! What does getting raked in the face by a FREAKING cat while trying to catch said cat have to do with gaining experience! All of these missions are just baby-WHAA!" Naruto yelped as Kakashi gave him a bop on the head, making him fall face first into the wooden floor.

"Cut it out." Kakashi scolded the blonde.

"Naruto! It looks like I need to explain to you what missions are." The Third Hokage said as Naruto sat up, gripping the back of his head as he cried out of pain, freezing when he heard the Third. "Listen, a lot of clients come to this village every day. The request for missions go from babysitting to assassinations."

Hinata flinched at the last part.

"The requests are and analyzed and they are separated into ranks-"

Hinata tuned out of the Third's explanation, as she already knew how the missions worked. Although she respected that Naruto wanted to get higher ranked missions, she herself didn't really want to.

The possibility of getting a very difficult mission that could result in someone getting hurt when they were merely appointed Genin not long ago was frightening to say the least.

Plus, then there were the higher stakes and much more consequences for making mistakes and being a burden, something that Hinata berates herself for being, and something that she thinks she is.

And then there is the fact that they were having difficulty with D ranked missions, what makes Naruto think that they could handle a higher ranked mission?

The only thing that they have going for them is Kakashi, and the Genin don't even know just how strong he truly is. There could be even stronger ninja than Kakashi out in the world.

The very thought of it made Hinata tremble out of fear, gluing her to where she stood. She, Naruto, and Sasuke didn't even stand a chance against Kakashi, who was constantly holding back and handicapping himself throughout their test.

So the prospect of there being someone more powerful than him that could appear as an enemy on a mission was scary.

She tuned back in to hear Naruto's voice, "So I had this tonkotsu ramen yesterday, so I'm thinking miso ramen today…"

"Silence!" The Third snapped at the blonde.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, "Oh, sorry."

Naruto turned around to face the Third Hokage.

"You always lecture like a little kid, pops!" Naruto exclaimed out of annoyance. "But I'm not the kid who used to pull pranks anymore! I'm a ninja now and I want a mission worthy of one!" Naruto turned around, crossed his arms and pouted.

 _Does he always talk to Lord Hokage like this?_ Hinata wondered as she took note of how Naruto called Hiruzen 'pops'. It was slightly amusing seeing the interaction between the two, she had to admit.

Kakashi began to scratch his head again. _I'm going to hear about this later…_

Both Iruka and Hiruzen chuckled to themselves at Naruto's attitude as their lips widened into a smirk.

 _Naruto has changed…_ Hiruzen noted, happy that Naruto was starting to take life as a Shinobi more seriously, even if it was just by a little bit.

"Okay, I understand." Hiruzen spoke, earning interested looks from all of a Team 7, except Kakashi who bore the same bored expression on his eye as usual. "Since you are so eager, I will allow you to take on a C ranked mission. You will be required to escort a certain person."

Naruto's ears perked up, "Really?!" He turned his body around to face the Third, revealing a grin on his face. "Who? Who? The feudal lord? Or a princess?"

"Don't get so impatient. I'll bring him in now. Send in our visitor." Hiruzen commanded, and not long after, the door to the room slid open.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata along with the others could immediately smell sake reeking off of the man who entered. Heck, if that wasn't enough, he was holding a bottle of it in his hand.

Naruto stood up like the rest of his team as a the man leaned on the doorway, with an irritated look on his face.

Hinata scanned the man's appearance. A bit of his drink was rolling down his mouth as if he was drooling. The man wore a dark green sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obit, pants, and of course a pair of sandals for his feet to wear. Finally, the man wore glasses.

"What's this? A bunch of little snot nose brats?!" The man retorted, before staring directly at Naruto. "And the little one with the idiotic look on his face, you really expect me to believe that _he's_ a ninja."

"Alright you bastard! First of all, Hinata's a girl! Second of all, _she's_ not the one with the idiotic look on their face!" Naruto yelled, defending Hinata, thinking that the man was getting Hinata's gender mixed up.

Hinata blushed at Naruto's sudden rush to her defense. Although...

"I know she's a girl you brat! I was referring to _you_!"

Naruto quickly shot his head at Sasuke, and to his horror, the last Uchiha was taller than the Uzumaki.

"I'll demolish you!" Naruto proclaimed as he attempted to bolt at the man, only to be held and restrained in the air by Kakashi, who was holding him with one hand by the jacket.

"You're not supposed to hurt the client. It doesn't work that way, idiot." Kakashi berated Naruto for his rashness and rudeness.

The client took a sip of his drink and cleared his throat after swallowing.

"I am Tazuna, a bridge building master and I must return to my country. There, I will have all of you protect my life with yours while I complete the bridge. We will leave shortly."

"This mission will take a couple of days to complete." The Third Hokage stepped in and informed the Genin team.

"K-Kakashi-sensei...may I go inform my father where I will be for the next couple of days?" Kakashi nodded his head, granting Hinata permission to leave the room.

* * *

 **At the Konoha Gates**

The group was currently leaving Konoha. For all of them except Kakashi and Tazuna, this was the first time that they had to leave the village.

Naruto bursted out of the gates, turned around, raised his arms and let out a cry of joy due to leaving the village for the first time and excitement for the mission. And then there was also the aspect of going to a place he has never been to before.

"Hey, will a kid like this really be capable of this mission?" Tazuna asked Kakashi as he pointed at Naruto, who froze in his place with white eyes of annoyance at being underestimated. Naruto crossed his arms.

 _Damn, this geezer is annoying. I should say something._ Naruto nodded his head as he thought of something. He turned his body around and pointed at Tazuna.

"Don't underestimate me you geezer! I'm a great ninja! And one day, I will receive the title of Hokage! The name is Naruto Uzumaki! Remember it!" The boy exclaimed with a foxlike grin on his face.

Hinata gushed over Naruto's declaration and thought about how cool he was.

 _Why can't I have the same level of determination as you, Naruto-kun._ Hinata frowned, dropping her head so she could face the ground, the one thing that she has seen the most in all of her life.

And her father's words to her before coming here didn't help build her confidence at all.

* * *

 **Flashback-Hyuga Manor-Not so Long Ago**

"You're going on a C ranked mission?" Hiashi repeated what his daughter reported. Although he didn't show any sign of emotion to Hinata, he was slightly surprised on the inside, as Hinata hasn't even been a Genin for a week and she already has a C ranked mission.

"Yes, and I will not be home for a couple of days." Hinata added to the description of the mission that she gave her father.

"I see. Well, you should not be late then. Get your things, and get going." Hiashi stated, prompting Hinata to turn around and leave.

"And one more thing." Hinata froze, listening to what her father had to say. "Try not to be a burden to the Uzumaki and Uchiha and jeopardize the mission. And bring honor to the Hyuga." Hinata brought her head down out of shame. Why couldn't he have more faith in her? Or at the very least wish her good luck? But then again...

She was a stain to the Hyuga Clan's reputation, that's what they all thought. Hinata still didn't know why she wasn't sealed and sent into the Branch Family already.

"Y-Yes Father."

* * *

 **Now**

She couldn't back down now. She was on a C ranked mission now. She couldn't let Naruto or Sasuke down. And if she kept acting afraid of the mission, then she would only be a burden and the mission would potentially be in jeopardy.

"If I become Hokage, you'll have to acknowledge me!" Naruto's aggravated voice brought Hinata back to reality. She looked at the blonde to see that he was yelling at Tazuna.

"I won't kid. That is, even if you become a Hokage." Tazuna told Naruto flatly. This kid? Become Hokage? Now that's the best joke Tazuna has heard in quite a long time.

"Grr! I'm going to kill you!" Naruto yelled as he leaped forward, once again being stopped by Kakashi, who was grabbing him by his backpack.

"Stop it, Naruto!" Kakashi commanded as Tazuna shrugged the boy off and walked forwards away from the village.

"No! No! Let me hit him at least once!" Naruto pleaded with his sensei, but to no avail the Jonin didn't let him.

As the group continued along the path, they came across a puddle of water. Kakashi glanced at the puddle, before returning his attention to the puddle. The others shrugged off the puddle's existence, paying it no heed. But if they were really alert, they would know that it hadn't rained recently.

Suddenly, metal chains wrapped around Kakashi's body, restraining him. The immediate sound of the clattering chains alerted the Genin as they saw Kakashi stuck in place along with the two ninja who had him restrained.

"What?!" Kakashi gasped out of shock.

"First one!" One of the two Shinobi yelled as Kakashi died getting ripped to shreds. The sudden death of the Jonin shocked the three Genin and Tazuna.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto froze in his place, when out of nowhere, the two ninja who murdered Kakashi seemingly teleported behind him.

"Second one."

Naruto turned his head to see the ninja ready to kill him with their chains preparing to wrap around his body. His life flashed before his eyes.

Was it all going to end here? Kakashi was dead! If he was caught off guard so easily, then what chance does Naruto have?!

Hinata was also frozen in place out of fear due to being heavily impacted by the loss of Kakashi. Like the other two, this was her first time in a real fight. And she was terrified! She then saw the ninja behind Naruto, but she still couldn't find the strength to move! She wanted to cry on the spot as Naruto was seemingly going to die just like Kakashi.

Sasuke, however, took quick action and leaped into the air, pulling out a kunai and a single shuriken, swinging the shuriken at the chains, catching them on a tree.

The new ninja widened their eyes as they found that they couldn't move the chains to kill the blonde boy.

Sasuke then flicked a kunai knife in the same direction as the shuriken, pinning the chains to the tree even tighter. The ninja tried to move the chains out, but to no avail.

Sasuke landed on the big metal wrist parts of their weapons. He grabbed onto both of the ninjas arms.

"Hn." Was the sound that came from Sasuke as he kicked the two ninja in the face.

 _W-Wow…_ Naruto thought in amazement as Sasuke's actions.

The two ninja dodged Sasuke's kick and broke the chain their weapons were attached to, they split up, one running towards Naruto with his claws pointed out, and another one coming for Tazuna and Hinata.

Hinata gasped out of shock as she realized that the ninja was closing in. The will to move returned to her, however…

It returned too late.

Although Hinata had managed to slide in front of a Tazuna to defend him, there was no way that she could react in time to attempt to hit the ninja. She was going to have to take the hit for Tazuna.

But then, Sasuke with great speed, appeared in front of Hinata, ready to take the ninja head on no matter what happened.

However, he never got the chance to, as the dark clothed ninja was knocked out by Kakashi tightly strangling him with one arm. In his other arm was the other ninja who went after Naruto, he was unconscious as well.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted casually, as if nothing happened at all.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?!" Hinata gaped, surprised that Kakashi was alive and well and without a scratch.

Sasuke's lips formed a straight line while furrowing his eyebrows. It had looked like either Sasuke's way of pouting or his way of showing jealousy.

 _What a show-off._ Sasuke's eye twitched.

Naruto and Hinata just kept staring at Kakashi, thinking that he was a ghost at first before looking over to where he had supposedly died. Where there should be a large puddle of Kakashi's blood was just a bunch of scattered wooden logs, showing that Kakashi had used the Kamawiri Jutsu (Substitution Jutsu).

"Naruto, I'm sorry I wasn't able to help in time." Kakashi said, "I didn't think that you wouldn't be able to move."

This was Kakashi's way of saying 'good job you did jackshit'.

Tazuna let out a sigh of relief, thankful that he was safe.

"Anyways, Sasuke, good job on reacting despite the surprise attack. Hinata, you were very late to react, you were frozen in place for almost the entire fight. Eventually, you did manage to snap yourself back into reality, but you were too late to actually do anything. Had Sasuke not appeared when he did, you might have taken a fatal blow." Kakashi criticizes Naruto's teammates. "Don't let it happen again."

"Y-Yes sensei, I'm sorry…" Hinata whispered to herself, disappointed with how she stayed still the entire time. She saw Sasuke look at her straight in the eyes. And she knew the look he was giving her all too well.

It was the look her father gave her when she failed.

It was the look of disappointment. The look that said, 'Why couldn't you do this better' or 'Why do you have to be such a failure'.

 _Why am I so weak? Why did I just freeze up and let Sasuke-kun do the work? Why am I so useless? I swore to myself that I wouldn't be a burden, but that is what I just was…_ Hinata dropped her head to face the ground out of shame.

The ground, her one source of comfort for when she felt down.

"Yo." Sasuke suddenly said, Hinata looked to see him facing Naruto. "Are you hurt...Scaredy Cat?"

Hinata heard Naruto growling out of anger as he yelled out Sasuke's name, only to be silenced by Kakashi calling out Naruto's name.

"There's poison on these guy's' nails. We need to take the poison out immediately."

Hinata looked over to Naruto, to see him holding up his left hand and gritting his teeth when he saw. Hinata then saw why he looked angry at the sight of it. The oozing blood running off the hand and dripping onto the ground. It all made it too clear…

 _Naruto-kun got hurt._ Hinata deduced as she gave her crush a look of concern.

"We have to open that wound to get the poison out. Don't move much or else the poison will spread through your body." Kakashi warned. "By the way, Tazuna-san."

The client took a startled step back, not expecting his name to be called.

"W-What is it?" Tazuna asked.

"We need to talk." Kakashi replied cryptically.

After putting down the unconscious ninja next to a tree and restraining their movements by tying them to the tree, Kakashi began to speak to Tazuna.

"Those two are Shinobi from Kirigakure. They are ninjas known to keep fighting no matter the cost.

"How were you able to detect our movements?" One of the Kiri ninja, who was now awake, questioned Kakashi.

"It hasn't rained for the past few days, and it's sunny today. Therefore, not a single puddle of water should have been seen." Kakashi explained as if it was obvious.

"Then why did you let the kids fight when you knew that?" Tazuna asked Kakashi.

"If I wanted to, I could have killed these two in the blink of an eye. But...I needed to know who the target for these two was." Kakashi narrowed his eye at Tazuna, who wasn't catching on.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm saying, we're _you_ being targeted or someone from our ninja group?" Kakashi rephrased. "We have not heard anything about you being targeted by ninja. Your request was to protect you from armed groups like gangs and robbers. You never said anything about being targeted by ninja. If we knew this, the mission would be a B Rank or higher."

Tazuna retained a neutral expression on his face, but one single drop of sweat could be seen rolling down his temple.

"Our Jon was to simply support and guard you while you completed the bridge. If ninja are our enemy, this mission would have been an expensive B rank." Another drop of sweat formed on Tazuna's face, and it didn't seem to be from the heat. "It looks like you have your reasons, but lying to us in the request details is unacceptable. Fighting other ninja wasn't part of the mission."

"S-So what are we going t-to sensei? Are we going to q-quit?" Hinata stuttered, secretly hoping that the mission would be cancelled. The prospect of handling a mission that could potentially be ranked higher than a B mission was just too much for the shy Hyuga to handle.

"Let's go back to the village to cure Naruto. The injury he had sure is a burden." Kakashi glanced at Naruto as he spoke, not bothering to hear what Naruto thought.

Naruto grit his teeth even harder that it looked like they would break if he clenched them any harder. Naruto pulled out a kunai and he stabbed his wound, causing blood to squirt out wildly.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out of shock and concern as Sasuke and Tazuna looked at Naruto out of surprise, even Kakashi widened his visible eye slightly at Naruto's sudden action. Naruto winced as he endured the pain of getting his hand stabbed by a kunai.

"Why am I so different...why am I always...damn it!" Naruto cursed out loud. "I should be stronger than this! I worked so hard just to get here! I've practiced for hours and hours until it hurt, and I've accomplished a ton of missions just to get closer to my dream! I will never back down, and always require someone to help me! I'm never going to run away! And I am not going to lose to Sasuke! I make this vow from the wound afflicted upon this hand! With this kunai, I'm going to protect the old man!"

Naruto turned around to face Tazuna and his comrades, his pained expression turned into a smirk. "The mission is still on!"

 _Naruto-kun is...so cool!_ Hinata suddenly found the strength to continue the mission as well. If Naruto was going to continue the mission, then she couldn't disappoint him by backing out. Plus, backing out now would mean bringing shame to her father and the Hyuga Clan.

"Naruto, it was uhh, really cool how you took out the poison out and all, but if you lose any more blood, you're going to die." Kakashi stated nonchalantly, and the meaning behind the words did not fit the tone of his voice at all.

Multiple little drops of sweat fell off of Naruto's face as his wounded hand quivered, before turning into rigid motions of trembling. Kakashi appeared right next to Naruto with an eye-smile.

"Good idea for you to stop the bleeding now, seriously." Naruto began to flail his arms around, screaming for his life.

"NONONONONONONONONO! I CAN'T DIE LIKE THIS!" Naruto cried out loud.

"Show me your hand." Kakashi said, Naruto did as he was told but he still was hyperactive at the news that he could die.

"NO! HELP ME!" Naruto pleaded Kakashi with his entire life.

"Umm, Kakashi-sensei, I have some ointment for Naruto-kun's wound." Hinata held out a small brown container. Kakashi wordlessly thanked Hinata as he took the ointment and applied it to Naruto's wound.

After applying it, the three found that the wound was already healing.

"Hey! This stuff is really good Hinata! My wound's already closing!" Naruto complimented Hinata.

However, Hinata didn't even blush, she merely said 'thank you'. She has used the ointment a lot of times, and never has it been _that_ effective. It only healed small wounds quickly. Wounds like Naruto's took longer to fully heal.

 _Why is it healing so fast?_ Hinata wondered.

 _Hinata's ointment seems to be working, but I reckon that the power of the Kyuubi is doing most of the healing..._ Kakashi concluded as he wrapped a bandage around Naruto's hand.

"Thanks Hinata! I really appreciate it!" Naruto told the Hyuga. This time, Hinata blushed slightly, but not as much as usual.

"N-No problem, Naruto-kun." Hinata closed her eyes and smiled.

Kakashi stood up fully and looked at the path ahead.

"Alright everyone, let's go, before any more Shinobi are sent after us."

* * *

 **I've just noticed that for every Chapter so far, Kakashi has had the final line.**

 **Anyways, soon, the gap between updates will get bigger as we will be covering more than just 1 episode. For example, next chapter we will probably go through the entirety of the Zabuza right. Which is...about 2½ episodes.**

 **That will be all for now.**

 **Take care, goodbye.**


	4. Kakashi of the Sharingan

When Hinata Hyuga had mustered up the courage to continue the mission given to her and her teammates, she did not expect to be in the situation her teams as in now.

Why did Naruto have to be such a big influence on her actions?

Her team was currently face to face with none other than Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist, a rogue ninja from Kirigakure.

On the boat they rode on beforehand, Tazuna had talked about why his country was in the state that it was in. He said that it was because of a businessman named Gato, who began to ruthlessly control the island about a year ago.

The place where Tazuna lives, Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves), was in a financial crisis thanks to Gato. Tazuna explained that even the daimyo barely had a lot of money. Tazuna himself couldn't afford an expensive B ranked mission or higher.

This was another reason why he had lied and made it seem like a C ranked mission.

Now here they were. The fearsome ninja of the mist perched upon the Branch high above them, his back facing them and his face staring at the group intently.

Kakashi had pulled up his headband, making it so everyone could see his covered eye, which was currently shut.

When he opened them, it was not a normal eye. Far different from Kakashi's other eye.

It was red, like the color of blood, with a tiny ripple circling around the black pupil, with 3 tomoe surrounding the pupil, sort of resembling a wheel.

"It is an honor to fight a user of the Sharingan, especially one with a caliber such as yourself, Sharingan no Kakashi, the man who copied more than 1000 Jutsu." Zabuza started in blunt admiration. He has killed many skilled Shinobi during his time as a ninja, but this kill would be one of the best.

 _1000 techniques?!_ Hinata thought to herself in awe, before realizing something. Kakashi is no supposed to have a Sharingan. The Sharingan is a kekkei genkai from the Uchiha Clan, just like how the Byakugan is for the Hyuga. So Hinata's question is…

Why does Kakashi have a Sharingan?

"Enough talk." Zabuza stated as he crouched down, perched atop his blade, his eyes burning holes right into Tazuna's own eyes. "I have to kill the geezer."

With this statement, Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke reacted immediately, each of them practically teleporting in front of Tazuna, each with a kunai at hand.

Naruto looking Tazuna's left.

Sasuke up front.

And Hinata looking to the right, with her Byakugan active.

"So It seems that I'll have to eliminate you first, Kakashi." Zabuza said as he threw his feet onto the tree trunk, grabbing his sword and leaping off and towards the lake in front of the group.

He landed on the water, using his chakra to be able to stand on it.

Zabuza lifted a hand up and brought another arm to the front of his face.

 _He's building up a lot of chakra..._ Hinata noted thanks to her Byakugan, but Kakashi could tell as well.

Suddenly, a thick cloud of mist began to envelop the entire perimeter around the lake.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu)!" Zabuza recited as the thick fog blocked any chance the group had of seeing Zabuza.

Hinata, unlike the others, could see, thanks to her Byakugan.

"Hinata, I'm counting on you." Kakashi reminded Hinata of her forced assigned role in the fight due to her bloodline as a Hyuga.

"I won't disappoint you, sensei!" Hinata exclaimed as she kept an eye on Zabuza, who was on the lake.

Naruto stole a quick glance at Hinata, interested in why she was so important at the moment to the fight. His lips parted as he saw veins around Hinata's eyes.

 _What is that?_

He inwardly punched himself back into reality, deciding to worry about it later and to focus on the fight, especially since his sensei was now speaking.

"The Silent Killing Technique." Kakashi muttered to himself. "He is probably going to go after me first. Stay on guard, you three."

"Right!" Naruto and Hinata responded while Sasuke let out his typical "Hn".

Hinata continued to scan the area for any other ninja in the area. However, she noticed her sight getting slightly distorted due to the mist, and light pain appearing around her eyes.

 _My Byakugan hasn't been trained enough yet..._ Hinata realized the reason for the strain she was currently feeling on her eyes.

"Eight points."

Hinata froze at the sound of the cold voice practically drooling into her ears, peeking with an intense intent to kill everyone in the surrounding area. Unfortunately, they were those everyone.

"The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collarbone, kidney, and heart. Now, which vital organ do you wish to get struck at?"

It really wasn't a question for them to answer, more like 'I'm going to strike you at one of those 8 places randomly, prepare yourself or die'.

Kakashi formed a hand sign as blue chakra began to flare around like a burning fire. Due to this, the mist blocking the team's view was lifted for the most part.

Sasuke widened his eyes as his feet practically locked into place once feeling the killing intent that Kakashi was releasing to match Zabuza's.

The air around him was suffocating to say the least. If he were stuck in a place with an atmosphere like this for an hour, he might not last.

 _The murderous intent of two Jonin clashing at one another...the feeling that my life is in someone's hand..._ The hand Sasuke gripped his kunai quivered fiercely as he slapped his other hand on top of it, trying to ease the shivering in order to suppress the amount of fear he was showing.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke looked at Kakashi with wide eyes, if Naruto, Hinata, and Tazuna were to budge their heads to see the look in those eyes, they would see hopelessness in them, a trait very surprising to see from Sasuke.

"Don't worry. I swear I'll protect the three of you with my life." Kakashi assured Sasuke as if he was reading his mind. "I won't let anyone on my team die."

Kakashi turned his head to Sasuke, giving him an eye smile.

 _Not again. I won't lose anyone on my team again. I won't let it repeat with this team like what happened with mine._

He still had the wounds inflicted upon his heart from his team's deaths. First Obito Uchiha, who sacrificed himself to save Kakashi from a falling boulder. Next was Rin Nohara, who's chest was stabbed thoroughly by Kakashi's own hand.

And then there was his sensei, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage.

He had died sacrificing his life for the entire village at the time of the Kyuubi's rampage on Konoha. This last death made Kakashi the sole survivor of his team…

"Kakashi-sensei, there are two more of him planning to attack from your right and your left!" Hinata spoke up.

"A Hyuga huh? So I get to face both the Sharingan and the Byakugan, what a treat." The voice of Zabuza was heard throughout the ears of the group.

One of the Zabuza clones was now right in front of Tazuna, zipping right past the guard Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata had with relative ease.

The other Zabuza clone took the initiative and attacked Kakashi.

 _It's over._ Both clones thought to themselves as they prepared to attack, lifting up their sword as they did so.

Kakashi's body jolted around as he focused his Sharingan on the Zabuza clone in front of Tazuna. With great speed, he practically teleported away from his spot, with the second clone missing his attack, his sword slashing at the ground instead of Kakashi.

Kakashi was next seen with a kunai jammed up the Zabuza clone's abdomen. The sudden appearance of Kakashi had the made Tazuna and the Genin scatter.

Away from each other.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he saw water dripping out of the hole he punctured into the Zabuza clone.

 _Not a Kage Bunish! It's a Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone)! In that case…_

Kakashi's thoughts were cut out by the sound of Hinata and Naruto yelling something out loud. Then, the sound effect of a sword slicing its target was heard.

 _SLICE!_

Kakashi's body was up into two pieces.

Zabuza let out a sadistic smirk under his mask, it was so noticeable"e that you could actually see the look under his mask.

What the group had thought was blood...was actually water.

 _The Mizu Bunshin!_ Zabuza thought out of realization, remembering that Kakashi had looked right at him with his Sharingan, meaning that he had copied the Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu.

But alas, Zabuza found out too late.

Kakashi had sliced off the head of Zabuza with a kunai, but, as expected, water squirted out of the wound, revealing that Zabuza was once again a clone made of water.

Out of nowhere, Zabuza appeared right behind Kakashi, startling the others, especially Hinata, who's Byakugan couldn't even find Zabuza due to how fast he moved.

Zabuza held his sword over head as he attempted to slash Kakashi with a downwards stroke of his blade.

Kakashi lifted up his hands and caught the sword with ease, however, the Jonin soon felt a powerful kick ram into his back as he was launched off his feet, his body falling into the lake in front of the group with a splash.

"Sensei!" Naruto cried out of fear as Zabuza zipped away.

 _Where did he go?! I can't track his movements, even with my Byakugan!_ Hinata widened her eyes out of shock.

Kakashi dipped his head out of the water, his hair and upper body soaked. When he felt the water, he was taken aback by how heavy it felt.

Zabuza then appeared behind him, forming some hand signs in order to perform a Jutsu.

 **Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison Jutsu)!**

"No!" Kakashi exclaimed as he was encased within a blue sphere of water, unable to move or escape.

"This is a special prison. Although it is made out of water, good luck trying to break out of it." Zabuza retorted with his right hand on the sphere. "Now then, Kakashi, I'm going to finish you off later. At the moment, my prey lies with them."

Zabuza lifted up his left hand and pointed his pointer and middle fingers up.

 **Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Jutsu)!**

Another Zabuza had rose from the remains of water on the ground not far ahead of Tazuna and the Genin.

"Don't think that you three can call yourselves ninja just because you wear a headband. When you've gone through so many life and death situations that you've lost count, when you've become so fierce that you are listed in my bingo book, _that_ is when you can call yourself a ninja. You three aren't ninja."

Zabuza made a hand sign as more thick fog closed in on the area. With great speed, Zabuza appeared in front of Naruto and practically threw him off his feet, making his headband fly off his head too.

When it landed on the ground, Zabuza crushed the headband with his foot, constantly twisting his foot on it.

"Everyone! Get Tazuna and run! You can't win against him! The real Zabuza can't move because he has me trapped! He can't use the Mizu Bunshin once you get far away from him! Run!" Kakashi commanded with a loud voice, hoping that they would listen.

 _Run? There's no way he can. As soon as you got caught, we lost that option. With this guys speed, regardless of being a Bunshin or not, he can easily catch up to us if we run. We don't have much of a choice in then. In order to survive, we have to get you!_ Sasuke thought to himself as he dashed off towards Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun!" Hinata called out of surprise, fearing something bad was going to happen to Sasuke, she rushed in as well. Part of her thought it was adrenaline like Sasuke, a 'Fight or Flight' response to the danger at hand.

Naruto remained frozen out of shock as he witnessed his two teammates rush the demon of the mist, Sasuke chucking multiple shuriken at the man while Hinata threw a single kunai.

All Zabuza did was lift his blade off the ground and swung towards the oncoming weapons, knocking them away with ease.

Sasuke had leaped up high into the air with a kunai in hand while Hinata kept running towards him, preparing to attack with a Juuken strike.

"Too easy." Zabuza muttered as he swiftly switched the hand holding the blade from his left hand to his right hand.

"ACK!"

With his now free left hand, Zabuza was gripping Sasuke's throat tightly, with the intent of choking him to death. The last Uchiha grit his teeth as he struggled to pry the hand off.

He took the hand with his blade and swung at Hinata, who took a quick jump in order to avoid the attack. Hinata pulled back her hand for another attempt at an attack, but Zabuza tossed Sasuke's body into hers, causing them to be thrown back tumbling across the ground, Sasuke sliding farther back since he was thrown away.

"Sasuke, Hinata! They were taken out so easily…" Naruto murmured, as, with the most amount of fear and hopelessness he has ever felt in his life, he turned his head while shaking madly towards Zabuza.

This was what a Jonin was like when serious?! This guy is stronger than Kakashi when his team fought against him in the bell test, and they were destroyed by him.

 _I need to run...at this rate...we'll...we'll get killed for sure!_ Naruto panicked in his thoughts as his jaw opened widely, every part of his body trembling.

He slammed his hand onto the ground, immediately feeling a jolt of pain rush through it, he winced as he looked at the hand, wondering what caused the pain.

Then he saw his hand.

The bandages.

As if the pain was to make him remember.

To make him remember that it was the same hand he stabbed with the kunai.

The same hand of which he made the vow.

" _I make this vow from the wound inflicted upon this hand! I will never back down, and always require someone to help me! I'm never going to run away!"_

" _Are you hurt...Scaredy Cat?"_

" _And I will am not going to lose to Sasuke!"_

Naruto lifted up his body slightly as he looked at the forehead protector that was now on the ground under Zabuza's foot.

It wasn't originally his headband, he remembered, it was Iruka's.

" _Sensei, can I put on that Konoha-forehead protector!"_

" _Oh, this? No. This is proof that you graduated school and that you're a real ninja."_

And then…

" _Naruto, come here now, will you. I want to give you something."_

" _Congratulations. You graduate."_

Then…

" _It's because you there are merely just kids who don't even deserve to become a ninja. In a mission, you must be ready to put your life on the line."_

" _You pass!"_

Finally…

" _But I'm not a kid who used to pull pranks anymore!"_

" _And my dream! It's to become the greatest Hokage that surpasses all of the previous ones! That way the people of the village will finally acknowledge my existence and see me as somebody, somebody important!"_

"That's right…" Naruto whispered in a low voice as he rose to his feet, the trembling throughout his body settling as he tightened his fist. "I made a vow...THAT I WOULDN'T RUN ANYMORE! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Naruto had made a mad dash towards Zabuza.

"Idiot! Stop!" Kakashi shouted at the top of his lungs, fearing that Naruto was going to die.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out from her spot.

"Hmph, dumbass." Zabuza mumbled as he blew Naruto backwards when he got close, Naruto let out a cry of pain as he rolled across the ground, causing a dust cloud to appear around him.

It hurt. The pain.

This was probably the most pain he has felt in his life

However, Naruto, despite the pain, attempted to get up again.

It could be seen that gripped tightly in Naruto's hand was his forehead protector.

Naruto stumbles to his feet as a line of blood could be seen rolling down his face.

"Hey, you no-browed piece of shit...put this in your bingo book! The man who will become the Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Leaves) one day…"

Naruto stood up fully as he wrapped his headband across his head, tightening it thoroughly. "The Konoha-styled ninja who never gives up…"

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto revealed a wide grin on his face, his eyes filled with a new fire.

Despite the situation, Hinata couldn't help but smile slightly. If Naruto was still upbeat and ready to go, then so was she. She would help her comrade out as best as she could.

"Naruto…" Kakashi uttered the name of his student as he rubbed his eyes, swearing to himself that he saw Obito in the boy's place for a moment.

"He looked so unreliable when I first saw him, but…" Tazuna trailed off, impressed with Naruto's determination.

"Sasuke, Hinata, lend me your attention for a second." Naruto said.

"What?"

"I have a plan." That was the response Sasuke got from Naruto, and this surprised him to say the least.

 _In a situation like this…he came up with a plan?_ Sasuke thought inwardly slightly impressed, Hinata thought something similar as well.

"Hmph, I can't believe you'd want to work with me." Sasuke would have let out a smirk, but due to the situation, there was no room for that.

"Now then, let's get wild!"

Zabuza chuckled quietly yet loudly enough to hear.

"You seem to be quite confident, but do you even have a chance for victory, with a plan coming from a kid like you?" Zabuza questioned in a slight mocking tone.

 _This isn't good..._ Kakashi grit his teeth under his mask.

"What are you guys doing?! Get out of here and run! The outcome of this battle w2d decided when I got caught! Run! Our mission is to protect Tazuna-san! Did you forget?"

The Genin of Team 7 turned their heads back at Tazuna, wanting his input on the matter.

"Don't worry, I caused all of this in the first place, I won't say that want to survive no matter what. Now, go! Save your sensei!" Tazuna exclaimed.

"Hn." Sasuke smirked. "You hear that?"

"Are you ready?" Naruto asked with a grin.

"Hmhmhmhmhm…"

A sound that could be heard coming from Zabuza before…

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Laughter.

"Still pretending to be a ninja, huh?! When I was your age, my hands were already soaked in blood." Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and a Tazuna widened their eyes out of shock. Was he that strong?!

"The Demon of the Mist, Zabuza…" Kakashi ushered the name of the Jonin.

"Ahh, so you heard of me. Am I also in your bingo book?" Zabuza retorted.

"A long time ago, Kirigakure no Sato was known as Chigiri no Sato. In that village, there was an obstacle that existed to become a ninja." Kakashi stated.

"Oh, and you also know of the final test?" Zabuza asked, slightly interested that a Konoha Shinobi would know.

"F-Final test?" Hinata repeated with a stutter, fearing the worst of the so called final test.

"Unlike your graduation exam, mine included killing the other students."

Naruto and the others froze up on the spot while Hinata lifted a hand to her mouth out of horror. Committing manslaughter just to graduate?! What the hell was wrong with Kirigakure?!

"Friends who have eaten together, trained together, are then separated into groups of two and forced to fight each other! It was either kill or be killed, don't stop until the opposing enemies are isn't breathing! Friends that helped each other, share dreams, and completed together, all leading up to one slaughter fest of blood." Zabuza explained.

"How awful…" Hinata whispered, shaking violently in her place as tears began to surface in her eyes.

Oh how lucky she was, to be born in Konoha. She couldn't imagine having to fight her classmates to the death, especially Naruto…

It's so horrible that Zabuza had to go through that…

"Ten years ago, Kirigakure had to go through a reformation. Because in the previous year, a monster appeared that finally decided it. That monster, who was a small boy who wasn't even a ninja, killed more than 100 of the candidates that year, and without hesitation too." Kakashi explained.

Zabuza's were blacked out as he looked up at the sky, revealing eyes of glee and joy as if remembering something great.

"That was fun." Zabuza glared at Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata with a fierce amount of killing intent spewing from him, causing the three to gasp out of shock.

Suddenly, Zabuza had appeared right in front of Hinata, who was closest to him, and gave her a strong punch to the face, causing her to help out of pain as she fell to the ground, a stream of blood now coming from her nose as Zabuza relentlessly followed the punch up with an elbow to the downed Hinata's stomach.

Hinata let out a scream of pain as blood flew out of her mouth.

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled the name of his teammate.

Hinata's vision began to go blurry from the two powerful strikes, the image of Zabuza distorting in her eyes, not being able to focus on the fight.

"AUHA!" Hinata cried out loud as a foot implanted itself on its stomach, causing her to spit out more blood as it rolled down her clothes and mouth. Zabuza continued to press harder on the girl's stomach eventually starting to twist his foot as the girl squirmed in pain.

Zabuza relished it.

The cries of pain and the screams that Hinata was releasing.

"With her Byakugan, she had the potential to be the most troublesome of you three." Zabuza stated his reason for attacking Hinata first. "But know this when you go into the afterlife." Zabuza had stomped on Hinata's stomach once again in order to take in the joy of hearing her scream, gripping the handle of his blade, ready to finish the girl off. "Being a ninja means being able to kill no matter what. A little flower like yourself has the least right to be a ninja out of the three of you. If you had experienced what the harsh life of a ninja truly is like, then you wouldn't last a minute."

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)!" Naruto yelled as multiple replications surrounded Zabuza in the next moment.

"Oh, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! And quite a few Bunshin at that." Zabuza said, slightly impressed as he stepped off of Hinata and took a few steps back.

"Let's go!" The Naruto's recited in unison as they each pulled out a kunai, encasing Zabuza in a circle as they assaulted him.

Sasuke took the initiative and grabbed Hinata, pulling her away to safety. Once safe, the girl slowly struggled to get back to her, constantly grimacing and wincing as she did so. She eventually rose to her feet, but the for she was in was staggered and slumped over due to the damage Zabuza inflicted upon her stomach.

Speaking of Zabuza, he had just let out a hell of adrenaline as he performed a circular spin with his blade in hand, killing all of Naruto's Bunshins.

The one Naruto remaining strapped off his backpack and struggled to get something out of his backpack, once he got what he wanted, he grabbed it, and threw it up into the air towards Sasuke, yelling his name as he did so.

The Uchiha reacted quickly and grabbed the object. He widened his eyes when felt the object in his hands.

 _I see! So that's what you want to do, Naruto! Not bad, considering it's from you!_ Sasuke thought to himself as the object in Sasuke's hand opened itself, revealing a large four-bladed shuriken, the blades of which were about as long as Sasuke's own arms.

"Fuma Shuriken: Kage Fusha (Demon Wind Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows)!" Sasuke launched himself into the air and swiped the shuriken right out of his hands, its target flying towards Zabuza…

The real one.

"I see, you're going after the real one. However, it's to easy for me!" Zabuza exclaimed as he caught the shuriken easily with his free hand that's not holding Kakashi's prison. Zabuza gasped as he heard the sound of another shuriken, he looked in front of him to see the same shuriken flying right towards him.

 _Another shuriken was in the shadow of the one I'm holding!_ Zabuza thought out of shock. This time, Zabuza jumped the shuriken, the weapon missing its target completely as it whizzed away. _Still too easy!_

Sasuke smirked, knowing what was going to happen next.

A poof noise was heard coming from the Fuma Shuriken now behind Zabuza and in its place appeared the blonde boy Naruto Uzumaki, with a kunai in his left hand. The sudden appearance of Naruto had shocked the group immensely, except Sasuke.

"This is it!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs while throwing the kunai

right towards Zabuza's right shoulder.

Zabuza, who was caught off guard by Naruto, had no choice but to remove his hand from the prison and turned his back so he could dodge the kunai.

And even then, the kunai had managed to nick Zabuza's cheek, evident by the small streak of blood flying off of a fresh cut in said area.

"You damn kid!" Zabuza cursed out loud as he prepared to throw the Fuma Shuriken the caught earlier right back at Naruto, however, a cutting sound was heard, and Zabuza saw the Fuma Shuriken stop spinning.

At one of the blades he saw a hand curled into a fist, he looked to the owner of the hand and saw Kakashi, who was now free of his bindings.

Naruto dropped down into the water, his head rising to reveal a smiling blonde with his mouth wide open and eyes filled with joy at what he just performed.

"Naruto, your plan was very impressive. Using a Kage Bunshin as a diversion to hide the fact that you had transformed yourself into a Fuma Shuriken. Sasuke, good job on acting quickly in a tough and quick situation. You both performed excellently. You even got rid of the Mizu Bunshin." Kakashi noted, it was at this moment that Tazuna had noticed that the Mizu Bunshin of Zabuza was indeed gone.

Apparently, when Zabuza dodged the kunai, it had kept going to hit the Mizu Bunshin of Zabuza.

 _To be able to pull teamwork like that off in such a tight situation...Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun don't even like each other, and they worked that well together...and I just stood there acting as a punching bag and I didn't do anything at all._ Hinata thought as she belittled herself, shifting her gaze away from Naruto and Sasuke's direction.

"Hmph! I lost myself temporarily and cancelled the Suiro no Jutsu." Zabuza said.

"No, you didn't cancel the technique, you were _forced_ to!" Kakashi retorted, causing Zabuza to growl in response.

The prospect of a Jonin being outsmarted and forced to release a Jutsu by a mere fresh Genin was outrageous to Zabuza. It made his blood boil to extraordinary levels.

"Your technique worked once, but it won't work again. What will you do now." Kakashi spoke, but it was more of a statement rather than a question.

"Hinata, don't forget the purpose of the mission." Sasuke reminded the firstborn daughter of Hiashi Hyuga, who nodded in response as they both took a step in front of Tazuna, with Hinata having her Byakugan activated.

As of right now, Hinata could feel the strain the Byakugan was putting on her eyes for keeping them activated for so long. However, it was only a light pain she felt from the strain, nothing to worry about for now.

Hinata then watched as Kakashi launched the Fuma Shuriken away with his arm, followed by him and Zabuza leaping away from each other.

Kakashi's Sharingan eye widened as he began to utilize its power.

Both splashed onto the water, a quite a bit of distance away from each other, and they both began to form hand seals.

 **Ushi, Sara, Oo, Nae, Ee, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Nae, Tora, Inu, Tora, Mee, Ushi, Hitsuji, Mee, Ee, Hitsuji, Nae.**

Kakashi formed the same exact hand seals, at the exact same time.

 **Jin, Sara, Tori, Tatsu, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Hitsuji, Tora, Mee, Nae, Sara, Oo, Ee, Tatsu, Hitsuji, Nae, Ushi, Sara, Tori, Jin, Nae, Ee.**

" **TORI!** " Both shouted in unison.

 **Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu)!**

The two dragons erupted out of the water with glowing yellow eyes of killing intent, all of it aiming towards each other. The faces of the dragons collided, and their bodies turned into a giant wave of water.

The wave was so strong that the water managed to reach the land Hinata, Sasuke, and Tazuna were standing on, causing them to dig their feet into the ground to avoid being swept away by the water.

Naruto meanwhile, was overtaken by the big wave.

 _He copied that many hand signs in a row?!_ Even Sasuke was surprised, as although Kakashi wasn't an Uchiha, he was using the Sharingan as if he was very experienced with it, as if he was the one who had the eye his entire life.

 _This guy...how did he do that?! The Sharingan allows you to copy an opponent's Jutsu, but he copied and executed the moves at the same time!_ Zabuza thought to himself as he walked to his right in a semi-circle fashion, prompting Kakashi to go in the same direction from his view, making the exact same steps at the same time.

Zabuza grunted as he lifted his left hand up, while bringing his right hand to his face with his pointer and middle finger pointing to the sky.

Kakashi executed the same movements in perfect synchronization.

Hinata's head perked up as she made a sound. "Sasuke-kun."

"What?"

"Don't look now, but there is someone on a tree behind us about 4 o'clock." Hinata reported with a low whisper. "And it's not a Bunshin of Zabuza, it's someone else, I don't know who though."

"Alright, keep your Byakugan on him, and don't your guard down, he could be Zabuza's ally." Sasuke replied, to which Hinata nodded. The both of them continued to stand as if they didn't know anything.

Suddenly, torrents of water began to splash around the area, flooding the surface and grazing the group's feet.

Kakashi had just used Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu), and Zabuza had been caught in the violent waves.

In all of the commotion, Hinata had lost her concentration, and she never noticed when the person behind them had moved.

Later when the torrents of water subsided, Zabuza was pinned against a tree, with multiple kunai etched into his skin and into the tree, pinning him there.

"It's over." Kakashi proclaimed calmly, he was sitting atop of the tree Zabuza was pinned to.

"Why?" Zabuza grimaced as he tilted his head so he could see Kakashi, showing the silver-haired Jonin his wide eyes filled with frustration. "Can you see the future?"

"Yes. You're going to die." Kakashi pulled quickly formed a couple of hand seals, before clapping his left hand onto his right's hands wrist, with the palm facing upwards.

Chakra gathered onto Kakashi's open hand as the ear-piercing screech of 1000 birds filled the air, signifying the usage of Kakashi Hatake's only original Jutsu.

Chidori.

However, before he could unleash the Jutsu's wrath on Zabuza, two senbon needles appeared out of nowhere, impaling themselves onto the side of Zabuza's neck.

Zabuza's eyes went white as blood spewed out of the wound like a volcano, Zabuza's now limp body collapsed to the ground.

The eyes of the Genin, Tazuna, and even Kakashi widened out of shock at the fact that Zabuza was taken out by an attack so easily.

Kakashi directed his gaze to the direction of where the senbon had come from. On the branch of a tree, he saw a figure standing on top.

The figure was wearing a standard Kirigakure pinstriped outfit which stopped at the knees. Over this was a green haori with white trimmings, and around the waist a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped also around the waist. The figure wore light-brown platoon sandals along with nail polish covering the fingernails and toenails in matching blue green color. The hair was gathered in a white bun holder, while two locks fell loose framing the face, bound with metal hair cuffs at the ends.

Finally, the most noticeable detail about the figure's appearance, the figure wore a mask, which was white with thin, curved eye-holes and a red wavy design in place of the mouth, as well as the Kirigakure symbol etched in the top.

"It's true. He did die."

* * *

 **Hello people. It's been a little while, huh. Well, I was just taking care of some life stuff, so sorry for not bringing this chapter out sooner.**

 **Anyways, I never mentioned this in the first chapter, but for the first couple of chapters, we'll be following closely to canon.**

 **As really, no matter what change you make to Team 7, whether it would be swapping Sakura for Hinata or any other person really, the Land of Waves arc would basically go the exact same way if not many other changes are made, for**

 **example the inclusion of an OC (that is important to the).**

 **Well, other than that small note, there really isn't anything to talk about.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, albeit it was strictly following the canon fight.**

 **Take care, goodbye.**


	5. In the Waves

"It's true. He did die."

Naruto rose back to shore, only to hear the calm, chilling voice in his ear. He looked over to where his teammates were looking. A masked ninja standing on top of a branch, the wind blowing hard on the clothes and hair of the ninja.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the person, before averting his gaze down to the seemingly dead Zabuza.

The rest of the Genin, along with Tazuna, were shocked too. They had so much difficulty fighting Zabuza, yet this guy, who looks no taller and Sasuke, easily took him out. Sure, it was a sneak attack, but…

Still…

Kakashi walked over to the body of Zabuza, checking his pulse to see if he was alive. He shifted his gaze over to the two senbon embedded in the side of his neck.

"He really is dead. And from such precise senbon throws…" To say Kakashi was amazed was an understatement. In his many years of being a Shinobi, he doesn't remember ever encountering someone who can use senbon this efficiently and skillfully.

The masked nin on the branch tilted his or her head forward, as if to take a polite bow to the group.

"Thank you very much. I was looking for a chance to kill Zabuza."

"That mask...if my memory serves me right, then you are a hunter-nin from Kirigakure." Kakashi stated as he looked at the symbol engrained on the mask.

"You are very well informed." The boy complimented as he stood up fully.

"H-Hunter-nins? T-The kind that assassinate exiled ninja who go against the village they originally aligned with?" Hinata widened her eyes as she quivered in her place.

 _From his height and voice, he seems to be around the same as Naruto and the other two. Yet...he's a hunter-nin._ Kakashi thought to himself as the mere sight of the boy reminded him of his days in the Anbu.

Naruto took a quick look at Zabuza's corpse, and then at the hunter-nin, constantly switching his views of the two, before settling his eyes on the nin in front of him, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Naruto bellowed out of anger, the volume of his voice surprising Tazuna, Hinata, and Sasuke to some extent. Naruto took multiple breaths, inhaling and exhaling repeatedly. "Did you hear me?! Who the hell are you?!"

"Stand down, Naruto. He is not an enemy." Kakashi commanded his student, much to the boy's dismay as he shot his body towards his sensei, the look of confusion and some other emotions on his face.

Anger? Sadness? Perhaps even the feeling of weakness?

"That's not the point! The point is that Zabuza was so strong that he even managed to take you off guard! The three of us stood no chance, while this guy, this kid, who looks like he's no older than me, comes out of nowhere and kills him with one move! What does that make the three of us?! What do we know?! Why does that even matter?!" Naruto questioned his sensei, who began walking towards him slowly.

"Well, you're right, it might be difficult to understand. But it still happened, Naruto." He threw his hand upon Naruto's blonde hair, causing the boy to wince. "In this world, there are kids how are younger than you...and yet stronger than me."

"Kgh!" Sasuke grunted out of anger at the statement. The fact that _he_ , Sasuke Uchiha, got his ass whooped by Kakashi, and that there could be a boy younger than even him, a 12-year old, who is stronger than Kakashi and Zabuza?! He refused to believe this!

The hunter-nin lifted his hand as a gust of wind encircled him, and in a flash, he wasn't on the branch anymore. Then, he appeared right next to Zabuza's body.

He picked up the body, wrapping Zabuza's limo around his neck, carrying the body.

"Your battle ends here for now. Now, I must go and dispose of this corpse." The nin stated nonchalantly, "It is one filled with many secrets. Now, if you'll excuse me."

The ninja lifted up his hand, preparing to use the wind technique he had just used to move away, but right before he did, Hinata quickly reactivated her Byakugan and scanned Zabuza's body, and what she saw surprised her.

 _He's still alive...but how, Kakashi-sensei said he had no pulse...useless, the senbon were used to put him in a near-death state._ Hinata surmised in her head, deactivating her Byakugan and turning to her sensei, who had just watched the hunter-nin disappear right from their eyes.

Kakashi sighed as he grabbed his headband, pulling it down to cover his Sharingan.

Naruto snapped, he dropped down to the ground out of anger and began to punch the ground as hard as he could out of rage, shouting 'Damn it!' with each blow that he dealt to the ground.

But just like how the situation wouldn't change by whining, the ground wouldn't change with Naruto's punches.

Kakashi grabbed Naruto's arm, "These things happen when you are a ninja. If you don't like it, then save your anger for next time."

Naruto's gaze at the ground softened as he forced a hand onto the dirt.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered out of concern for her crush.

Kakashi turned towards her and the other two, "Our mission is still in-progress. We need to take Tazuna-san back to his house."

"U-Umm...K-Kakashi-sensei…" Hinata murmured, her trademark stuttering returning once again. It was weird, she didn't stutter once in the fight against Zabuza, and here she was doing it again.

"Yes?"

"Z-Zabuza...isn't dead."

"What?"

"I-I could still see him, just barely alive. H-His Chakra was still r-running throughout his body." Hinata informed her sensei.

Kakashi's now only visible eye narrowed as he gave her statement some thought. "Hmm, come to think of it, hunter-nins are generally supposed to destroy a rogue ninja's body immediately after killing them. Well then, it looks like they'll be back. Good work, Hinata."

Now normally, Hinata would have taken the praise immensely, as she barely had ever gotten praise from others, and just getting a simple 'Good job' from someone could boost her confidence up just a little bit.

At the moment however, she paid it no heed.

"W-What?!" Naruto exclaimed out of shock, widening his eyes. Even Sasuke was surprised as well, and a little afraid along with it. If that hunter-nin was with Zabuza, and he took him down and made it seem like he died just like that, then he must be just as skilled as Zabuza.

"Well, let's think about that later. For now, let's go get Tazuna-san back to his…" Kakashi trailed off as he felt a wobble in his legs, they began to feel like jelly as he dropped down onto the ground.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried out in surprise, running over to the Jonin, prompting the other three to do the same.

"D-Don't worry...I'm fine…" Kakashi grunted as his visible eye winced. "The aftereffects of using the Sharingan for an extended amount of time…"

 _I see...after all, he isn't an Uchiha by blood, his body doesn't have the strength to handle the strain of the Sharingan._ Sasuke concluded inwardly.

"My house isn't very far from here." Tazuna spoke up. The Genin nodded as Tazuna decided to pick up Kakashi's body, all by himself.

"Let's go, before they come back."

* * *

 **Later-Tazuna's House**

"Are you okay, Kakashi-san?" The daughter of Tazuna, named Tsunami, asked the Jonin, who was now lying down on a sleeping mat due to exhaustion.

"No. I don't think I can move at maximum potential for a couple of days." Kakashi answered bluntly as he raised his head off of the pillow.

"If that's the case, then don't move around so much."

"Alright." Kakashi obeyed as he put his head down, letting the blanket drape over practically all of his body.

"Sensei's awake!" Naruto's voice came in an excited manner as he, Sasuke, and a Hinata entered the room along with Tazuna.

"H-How are you feeling, sensei?" Hinata asked quietly, walking up to his side and getting down onto her knees.

"I'll be fine. Just give me a couple of days and I'll be able to move fully again." Kakashi replied. "However, the matter at hand should be about the fact that Zabuza is still alive, and he's out there, biding his time…"

The mere statement brought a feeling of uneasiness in Hinata's stomach. Remembering on how the last battle turned out, they had barely won, and with another person backing Zabuza up, she wasn't sure that they could win next time.

Naruto noticeably shivered in his place, remembering all of the killing intent that Zabuza had leaked out of his body like wildfire.

It was...frightening. He couldn't move in that situation just out of fear.

At the time, he didn't even know how strong the guy was, and all it took for him to freeze up was the feeling Zabuza had oozed out into the air.

"But how?!" Was the question that blurted out of Naruto's mouth.

"Well, it was most likely that he was in a near-death state. Senbon, the weapon used on Zabuza, usually have a low fatality rate unless it hits a vital spot." Kakashi explained the reason for why Zabuza had survived. "Hunter-nin are trained to know every vital point of the human body, so it's obvious that the hunter-nin knew where to hit."

"But that doesn't prove how he is alive!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Then ask Hinata." Kakashi interjected as the blonde spared Hinata a glance, who gained a tiny shade of red on her face. "Her Byakugan could see the flow of Chakra Zabuza had, that's all the proof we need to know that Zabuza is still alive."

 _Ok seriously! What the hell does this Byakugan do?! And why does only Hinata have it?! Is it one of those kekkei genkai things?_ Naruto wondered internally as he continued to gaze at the Hyuga.

"B-But how will we prepare, sensei? Y-You said you won't be able to move for a…" Hinata paused when he heard Kakashi chuckling quietly, yet loud enough for everyone to hear, "S-Sensei?"

"I'm going to put you through some training." Kakashi responded simply as if it was obvious.

"It's not going to help at all." The voice of a young boy could be heard now in the room. The group turned to the entrance to see a boy with black hair wearing a white hat with 2 blue stripes. He had a yellow shirt under a green jumpsuit with two grey buttons.

"And who are you?" Naruto pointed at the rudely.

"Inari! Where were you?" Tazuna asked the boy, Inari, who ran up to him, embracing him into a tight hug.

"I'm home, grandpa."

"Inari, say hello to them, these are ninja that escorted your grandfather." Tsunami scolded her son.

An uneasy atmosphere formed around the room for everyone to feel. Inari looked at the three Genin, particularly Naruto, with dark emotionless eyes. He let go of Tazuna and looked up his mother.

"Mom, they're going to die. There's no way anyone can win against Gato." Inari responded to his mother.

"What did you say, you brat?!" Naruto rose to feat, slightly ticked off, before grinning and jabbing a finger in Inari's direction. "Listen up, I'm a great ninja who's going to become known as Hokage, a superhero! I don't care who Gato is, but he won't stand a chance against us!"

"A hero? How stupid. There's no such thing as a hero." Inari retorted in response. Naruto made a noise of anger as he began to charge at Inari, wanting to teach him a lesson, however, he froze in his tracks when he felt a soft skinned hand grab his arm.

He looked down to his left to see Hinata looking at him, her eyes saying 'Please don't'. Naruto read the expression and calmed down.

"If you don't want to die, you should just go home." Inari ran off with that statement, completely getting away with his rudeness.

"Where are you going, Inari?" Tazuna enquired as his grandson put his hands on the door, the boy responding with that he was going to watch the ocean.

"I'm sorry for my grandson's rudeness, he's gone through a lot." Tazuna apologized with the slight bow of his head.

* * *

 **Later-With Naruto**

 _I'm so going to teach that kid a lesson!_ Naruto thought to himself as he stomped up the stairs barefoot. This time, there was no one to stop him from giving the kid a lesson.

No Kakashi.

No Tazuna.

And no Hinata.

He walked over to the door to Inari's room, and readied his hand to barge in when he heard the quiet sound of a sob, followed by many other sobs.

Naruto peered into the slightly open door, where he saw Inari sitting in an open window, holding something in his lap and looking down at it.

By the constant jerk of Inari's elbows, Naruto could easily tell that…

"He's crying…"

"Dad…" Naruto heard the boy croak, sorrow dripping out of his voice as he looked into the room with a sympathetic look on his face.

* * *

 **Later That Day-In the Forest-Team 7**

"Well, it seems as if Hinata has the best Chakra control." Kakashi announced as he saw Hinata, who sitting up on top of the branch of the tree she had climbed.

On the other hand, Sasuke had gone up about an quarter of the way, a slash mark engraved in the tree along with a foot mark gap which signifies where and how he failed, while Naruto failed literally in two steps with no mark on the tree at all.

The Genin were currently undergoing a Chakra control exercise. Kakashi instructed them to mold their Chakra into their feet and climb up the tree without using their hands.

 _Well...she is a Hyuga after all. Good Chakra control is a necessity when using the Gentle Fist style._ Kakashi thought to himself with an eye smile as he walked down the rest of the tree.

"H-Hinata?!" Naruto cried out of shock as he and Sasuke looked up in awe. Even from her spot at the top, Sasuke could see the tint of red on her face.

Hinata's small smile of embarrassment turned to a frown when he saw Naruto's frustrated look, however, she recovered the smile when Naruto clenched his fist and curved his frown into a fox like grin.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Naruto cheered as he looked at the results. That's what he can do after he masters this exercise?! That was one of the coolest things he's ever seen.

 _Even if it is a little annoying...it's still cool..._ Naruto thought inwardly.

 _Damn it. How can a Hyuga be better than me, an Uchiha?!_ Sasuke wondered as he formed a fist with his hand. _Perhaps she isn't as useless as I took her for._

 _Naruto-kun is mad at me...and he's also excited?_ Hinata thought out of confusion, looking at the look Naruto had engrained on his face. She could easily tell the emotions Naruto would be feeling just from the facial expressions he was making. She didn't know how, she just could.

But for once, she was wrong about Naruto's emotions. He wasn't mad at her, in fact he was happy for her. He was mad at himself that he's been bested once again, and not by Sasuke, by Hinata, the girl who didn't like to stand out in the first place.

"Good control and stamina, Hinata. Maybe Hinata, and not someone else, is the closest one to becoming a Hokage right now, if she wanted to be. And the Uchiha Clan isn't as superior as I thought, either." Kakashi taunted Hinata's teammates, as a way to push them further.

 _Now both of them are going to dislike me…_ Hinata thought with a frown on her face, a blush present on her cheeks due to the praise she was receiving from Kakashi.

While she didn't like being compared to Naruto and Sasuke in a way like this, it was nice. To finally be praised. To feel like you're actually successful at something.

This was something Hinata had wanted for years. But unfortunately, it had come from Kakashi, her sensei, and while that was acceptable and all…

She wanted praise from two other people especially. Naruto…

And her father.

She broke herself out of her trance as she looked down at Naruto and Sasuke, who were giving each other competitive looks.

 _If this training goes well, it will become a treasure for all of them, especially Naruto, as he has Chakra reserves that Sasuke and Hinata could only dream of hidden inside of him._ Kakashi thought to himself.

Away from the group, closely watching them with a glare was Inari. After hearing a declaration from Naruto on how he was going to catch up and beat Sasuke, and eventually Hinata, he scoffed and walked away.

 _There is no point in doing something like that..._

Later, Naruto and Sasuke still hadn't managed to make it to the top. Naruto could go up a little bit, but it pales in comparison to Sasuke and Hinata, the latter who went up and down the tree multiple times now, deciding to stop because she didn't want to show off.

Meanwhile, Sasuke has barely improved also, he was getting close to climbing up half of the tree however.

Hinata watched her two teammates attempt and fail, continuously. Eventually, she was surprised when…

Naruto turned away from the tree and walked towards her.

"Hey? I was just wondering...could you give me some tips?" Naruto asked the Hyuga as he clapped his hands together in a pleading manner.

Hinata's face flushed red due to being in close proximity within Naruto, and he was talking to her too!

"But don't tell Sasuke." Naruto added quickly as he glanced back at the Uchiha, who were looking at the two out of confusion.

"U-Umm...o-o-okay…w-well, don't get t-too-"

"Hinata," Naruto interrupted, "Speak up, I can barely hear you, and you're stuttering a lot too."

Hinata hadn't realized the volume of her voice at that moment. To Naruto, she had sounded like a mouse. Hinata cleared her throat, slapping herself inwardly.

 _Come on Hinata...you can do this!_

"W-Well," Hinata spoke, her voice much more decipherable to Naruto this time, "Don't get too tense and lose concentration. You want to focus a consistent amount of Chakra into your feet, and make sure you keep that amount as you that amount as you go up the tree. Make sure not to transfer too much Chakra to your feet, and make sure not to transfer to little. I can help you with my Byakugan."

"Oh, speaking of that, if you don't me asking, what is the Byakugan?" Naruto asked intrigued. Hinata once again blushed, resorting to explaining another thing to Naruto.

"It's the kekkei genkai of the Hyuga Clan…" Hinata began, and continued to explain the Byakugan, it's functions, it's drawbacks, like the blind spot, and other things.

After the explanation, Naruto nodded his head out of understanding, making it one of the first times that Naruto had actually listened to something fully...for the most part.

"So...you're going to use your Byakugan to see how much Chakra I'm transferring into my feet?" Naruto questioned, to which he got a confirmation from the nod of the Hyuga's head.

Hinata formed multiple hand signs, bringing her arms close to her face as she uttered one word.

" _Byakugan!"_

Naruto made a sign with his hands, bringing them up to his face as he sent Chakra down to his feet.

It was at this moment that Hinata noticed something…

 _His Chakra reserves are huge! They are so much bigger than Sasuke-kun's and mine! No wonder he's having so much trouble! In fact, no wonder he couldn't even perform the regular Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu) in the Academy!_ Hinata realized.

But how could Naruto have this much Chakra?

She decided to push that question aside for now as she noticed Naruto's shoulders shaking.

"S-Stand still, Naruto-kun. Try to make the least amount of movement as possible. And transfer less Chakra, your using way too much."

Naruto made a sound, which Hinata could only assume that he meant to say 'Okay' but he was too focused on molding Chakra to actually say anything.

"How about this?"

Hinata smiled, "Yes, that's it! Now, just remember that exact amount, and keep it like that as you climb up the tree."

Naruto nodded his head as he put his arms down to his side running towards the tree at great speed, trying his best, and struggling, to keep the same amount of Chakra into his feet.

He implanted his left foot at the bottom of the trunk, and lifted his right farther up, he kept taking more steps.

Left. Right. Left. Right.

And he got even higher than he did before. Sasuke looked on in awe as he saw the boy running up the tree. Incredible, the done was catching up, and it was because of something the Hyuga had told him!

 _Just what did she say that sparked this much of an improvement?!_ Sasuke wondered as fortunately for him, Naruto had stumbled in the middle of his run and lost the amount of chakra, accidentally decreasing it.

Naruto quickly swiped his kunai across the bark if the tree to mark his ascent as he fell down to the ground, managing to actually land on his feet.

When he looked up at his progress, a grin spilled across his face.

"Alright!"

 _Impressive. Such a sharp improvement. And his reserves are bigger than all of ours._ Kakashi thought impressed. _He's grown...all of them have._

Although Naruto showed more growth than the other two, they still had noticeable progress.

Sasuke seems to have less problems with being on a team, while Hinata seems to have crawled out of her shell a little. She seems more confident and she has been stuttering much less.

Of course, the team still had it's problems, but it was much better than when they did the bell test.

In fact, if they tried the bell test now, they would have a much better chance of getting a bell.

Kakashi looked at Naruto's tree. He wasn't as high up the tree as Sasuke, but he managed to just barely beat the amount Sasuke had climbed when he first tried the exercise.

"Thanks Hinata, you're the best!" Naruto flashed her a smile, causing her to blush as she played with her fingers.

"N-No p-problem, Naruto-kun…glad I could...help…"

Ok, scratch Hinata getting over the stuttering problem.

Hinata looked to Sasuke, who was glaring at Naruto's mark on the tree intently.

She immediately felt guilty. She had shown Naruto all of this attention, that she has completely ignored Sasuke.

Sure, he did intimidate her, but still, that was no excuse for her to ignore him when he is on her team.

She walked over to the last Uchiha slowly and catiously.

"A-Ano...I can h-help you also if you would l-like me to…" Hinata said to the boy in almost a whisper.

Naruto looked at Hinata out of annoyance.

 _Why does she have to help him also?! That bastard has been an ass ever since the team was made!_

Sasuke looked at Hinata in the eyes for a while. Black eyes staring dead into lavender eyes.

Hinata began to feel beads of sweat roll down her face due to the animosity brewing between the two.

It all ended with Sasuke retracting his eyes, turning away from Hinata with a scoff.

"Naruto can have his help from his fangirl. I don't need such a thing. I am Sasuke Uchiha, from the prestigious Uchiha Clan! I don't need help from someone who hails from the Hyuga Clan!" Sasuke declined the offer as he faced the tree again.

"Oh...ok." Hinata said, deciding not to push further due to how Sasuke was.

She turned her head to Kakashi, who merely gave her a shrug of his shoulders.

"Hyuga."

Hinata returned her attention to the Uchiha, who had his pupils directed at her.

"Yes?"

"Thanks." Sasuke said quietly so Naruto and Kakashi couldn't hear.

Hinata widened her eyes slightly, surprised that SASUKE UCHIHA was thinking HER. She had never heard Sasuke thank anyone before, this was a first.

"N-No problem…" Hinata said as she walked away, still taken off guard by Sasuke's attitude.

Was Sasuke softening up to the team?

No. That couldn't be it.

Could it?

Was he starting to think of Team 7 as actual friends or comrades, people he could trust?

"Oi, Hinata." Naruto spoke to the girl, breaking her out of her trance. "What did that bastard say?! If it was something bad I swear-"

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun. It wasn't anything bad." Hinata assured her crush with a small, genuine smile.

"Alright, Hinata! Since you have seem to have gotten the exercise down pat, I need you to run over to the construction site at the bridge. I want you to guard Tazuna while Naruto and Sasuke finish up here." Kakashi commanded, promoting Hinata to nod her head respectfully.

"What?! Come on sensei! Let me go too!" Naruto pouted at his sensei.

"Naruto." Kakashi leaned his head forward with an eye smile, "This exercise will greatly help with your Kage Bunshins. I highly recommend continuing on this exercise, or else you'll be a burden in battle."

Naruto sighed out of defeat, "Alright." He turned in Sasuke's direction, who had just touched the ground, setting a new height record just barely. "Oh hell no! I'm not losing to this bastard!"

Naruto trudged over to the tree and began to work at it once again.

* * *

 **Later That Night-Tazuna's House**

Team 7 and Tazuna's family barring Tsunami, who was cleaning the dishes, were at the dinner table chowing down. Well, mostly Naruto and Sasuke chowing down while Kakashi and Tazuna ate slowly bit by bit.

Tsunami had cooked the brunt of the food, but Hinata helped her as well.

Inari and Hinata, barely touched their food.

Hinata currently had a lot on her mind. After Kakashi sent her off to guard Tazuna, she oversaw the hard work on the bridge, and she witnessed one of the workers quitting on Tazuna, much to the man's frustration.

Then, when they were going through town to get ingredients, Hinata was horrified to see the condition of Nami no Kuni and it's people.

Kids were practically begging people for food, or munching down little pieces of bread, while other people wore ragged clothes, and they looked like they had seen better days.

Even the shop they went to for ingredients had barely any food in it.

It was then that Tazuna told Hinata the importance of the bridge. Once it was completed, the poverty of the place could halt, and they wouldn't have to be in the depression they were currently in anymore.

Hinata had remembered a little girl tugging at her side, begging for food. She had given her the food, but felt bad for everyone she saw. After she had given the girl food, other kids looked at her with hopeful eyes, but she couldn't spare a lot, especially since Tazuna was handling the food.

And now, to sit here at a dinner table, munching down while others near them would be lucky to even get a good meal, just felt wrong to Hinata.

And for that reason, she wasn't eating. She had lost her appetite so what she had witnessed earlier.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Naruto and Sasuke barfing their recently swallowed food. Since they have practically shoved it down their throats, eager to get back to training.

"N-Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun…you guys shouldn't f-force the food down your mouth…" Hinata mumbled to her fellow Genin. Well...not so fellow in the case of Sasuke but still.

Sasuke looked at her as if she had two heads, "No, I'll eat!"

Naruto nodded his head out of agreement. "Yeah! If I want to get stronger, than I have to eat as much as I can! Besides, this stuff is really good!"

"If that's so, then you might want to stop forcing the food down your mouth, both of you are are puking." Kakashi scolded.

"Hinata, thanks for helping me cook all of this." Tsunami said out loud,

"N-No problem."

"Wow, Hinata! You made some of this stuff?! You must be a damn good cook!" Naruto exclaimed, causing the girl to blush heavily as she put her hands on her face.

"N-No...it was all Tsunami-san's doing." Hinata quickly denied her contributions, not wanting to hog the glory she didn't deserve.

Hinata looked away from Naruto, and that is when she noticed a picture frame up on the wall

It looked like any other ordinary family picture. There was Tazuna, Tsunami, Inari, who was actually smiling joyfully, a complete contrast to his current demeanor. And then…

A tear in the picture.

From the looks of it, there seemed to be a fourth picture with them. Inari's father? Or maybe a sibling?

Speaking which, she hasn't seen Inari's father at all…

"U-Umm...if you don't mind m-me asking, why is that picture ripped?"

Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami all tensed at the mention of the picture. But the most stiff one of them all was Inari.

"It's my husband." Tsunami answered in a raspy voice, with a hint of sadness.

"He was the man known as the hero of this town." Tazuna started to speak, only to freeze when Inari rose up from his chair, running to the door with his hat covering his eyes.

"Inari, where are you going?" Tsunami called after her son, who opened the door and shut it hard behind him, leaving Team 7 staring at where the boy once was in awe.

Tsunami soon followed and opened the door slightly, before turning to Tazuna with an angry look on her face.

"Father, I told you not to talk about him in front of Inari!" And with that, Tsunami let and shut the door behind her.

And with the shut of that door came a wave of guilt which dumped down on Hinata.

What she had just mentioned seemed to be a sensitive topic for the family of three.

 _Why did you have to say something so sensitive Hinata? You're so stupid!_ Hinata belittled herself inwardly as she looked down at the floor.

"I-I'm...sorry…" Hinata apologized as she took a deep bow toward a Tazuna, staying in that position for a long time, "It was foolish of me, to speak of something like this not knowing that it could be something bad."

"It's alright. Well, since you know about Inari's father, I guess I should tell you about him. The man in the picture is Inari's father yes, but not biologically." Naruto listened in interest as he gasped at the torn picture on the wall. "Inari and him were so close, like a real father and son. Inari used to laugh so much back then. "But…"

Tazuna's hands tightened into fists, the nails digging deep into his skin as small tears dropped down Tazuna's face.

"Ever since that day, after the incident with Inari's father, the boy has changed...and not for the better."

"And what happened with Inari during the incident?" Kakashi asked the old man, who looked up to face Team 7, a grave look appeared on the man's face as he adjusted his glasses.

"To explain the incident, I will need to talk about the man who was known as a hero on this island." Tazuna took off his glasses as he wiped off the single tear that trailed down his face.

"A hero?" Naruto repeated.

"It was about three or so years ago. That's when Inari met the man. One day, Inari ambushed by three people, two of them restrained while the other one forced Inari to watch his dog, Pochi, drown in the water." Tazuna began the story, immediately getting a gasp of horror from Hinata.

 _They made him watch his dog drown?! How horrible…_

"Inari wanted to save his dog, but he hesitated when the three let him go. He was scared, due to the fact that Inari couldn't swim. Inari was pushed into the water. Then, Pochi actually learned how to dog paddle, and he left Inari to drown, abandoning him." Tazuna continued, remembering how horrified he was when he learned that his grandson had almost died, "Thankfully, Inari was pulled out of the water before drowning."

"And the one who saved him…" Kakashi trailed off to let Tazuna finish.

"Yes, it was that man. A great, strong man named Kaiza. He was a fisherman who had come hero to fulfill his dream. Ever since that day, Inari adored him, mostly because he never got to know his own father. It wasn't long before Kaiza became part of our family."

Naruto closed his eyes and smiled as he continued to listen, hoping to become a hero like that, one where the people would look to him for help...where they would acknowledge him as a great man.

"Kaiza was also the man that our village needed. After Kaiza prevented a sector of the village from being flooded, the people began to call him a hero, and he became a father Inari could be proud of." Tazuna smiled at the memory, before curving his lips into a deep frown. "But...around that time, Gato has turned his eye on this town. And one night…"

Tazuna grimaced as he remembered the day the hero died.

"Kaiza was captured by Gato, and there he was beaten to near death. Gato went as far as cutting both of his arms off."

Tears began to sprout in Hinata's as she turned away, holding her arms tightly together.

"The next day, Gato had Kaiza publicly executed as a way to discourage the people from ever standing up against Gato again. And he threatened that if anyone were to stand up like Kaiza did, they would meet the same fate as him. Ever since, Inari, a Tsunami, and all the other people of the village changed."

After that last statement, came silence.

Utter silence.

So that Team 7 could process what they had just heard.

Suddenly, Naruto tightened his fist, jumping out of his seat, and taking a step towards the door, but due to his fatigue courtesy of the tree exercise, he merely collapsed to the ground facefirst.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata spoke the name of her crush out of surprise.

"If you're trying to go out and train, don't even try. You molded way too much Chakra. If you try to train anymore, you'll die." Kakashi warned Naruto.

From the amount of time had been training, even someone with Naruto's Chakra capacity could barely move afterwards. Training now is not a good idea.

"I'll show him," Naruto said, rising to his feet slowly, his legs trembling uncontrollably, "That there are heroes in this world…"

"I'll prove it to him!"

* * *

 **Finished!**

 **Thankfully, this arc will be finished in 1 or 2 chapters.**

 **After this arc, I might have a mini 2-3 chapter arc which will highlight Team 8 from their Genin test and to something else before the Chunin Exams.**

 **Keep in mind that this is a maybe.**

 **Anyways, that's all for now guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	6. Snap

"Good morning…" Hinata greeted the occupants of the room with a small yawn. Immediately after entering the room, she noticed that Naruto was the only one who wasn't there.

 _Is he still out training?_ Hinata wondered as she took a seat at the table. Tsunami walked over to her with a plate of food, placing it down in front of her on the table.

"Thank you very much." Hinata gave Tsunami a small bow with her head.

"Naruto is still training his ass off like a madman, huh?" Tazuna spoke as he took a bite into his food,

"I-I'm starting to get worried about it. I-If he pushes himself too hard, he could die by using too much Chakra." Hinata said glumly as she looked down at the food, the sudden prospect of Naruto dying completely devouring her appetite.

"There shouldn't be anything to worry about. Even if he doesn't look like one, Naruto is a decent ninja." Kakashi assured Hinata to ease her worries.

Too bad Sasuke doesn't help with shit.

"I don't know about that. That dumbass might actually be dead."

Hinata immediately stood up out of her chair at that statement, "Please excuse me." she had said as she began to walk towards the entrance of the house.

"Where are you going?" Tazuna asked the Hyuga, who froze in her tracks as she gave an answer.

"I-I'm going out to train…"

It was a half-lie. Yes, she was going to train, there wasn't a reason on why she shouldn't train. Hinata was disappointed in how she performed in the first fight against Zabuza.

One the demon started to put more effort into his movements, Hinata couldn't even react to his movements let alone see them well. Whenever he moved, all she saw were blurs, even with her Byakugan.

Then, there was when she was pinned to the ground, with Zabuza's foot emplaned on her stomach, constantly crushing and twisting on it as all she could do was cry out in pain, desperately hoping for one of her teammates to save her.

She couldn't have that anymore! She couldn't disappoint her father or her teammates.

Or Naruto.

He had to come to her rescue. Next time, _she_ wants to be the one coming to Naruto's rescue.

Now despite this desire to train, Hinata also went out to make sure that Naruto was okay. Even though her crush was quite stubborn and strong, even he had limits when it came to fatigue. She had to make sure he wasn't dead.

When she had gotten into the forest where she had thought Naruto would be training, she saw a young woman...or was it a man, wearing a pink sleeveless kimono, walking away from what Hinata saw was Naruto, who had his arms crossed, muttering something to himself.

As she crossed paths with the man she took a glance at him, seeing a basket of fresh herbs. She decided to just shrug it off as she continued to walk towards Naruto.

"This world is full of many mysteries…" Hinata could Naruto mutter, he had his eyes closed, so he didn't even that Hinata was there.

 _Ok, Hinata, you can do this, just say one word, that's all!_ Hinata inwardly slapped herself double time to make sure she was ready.

"U-Uhh…"

 _No Hinata, why did you start with 'uhh'!_ Hinata panicked as sweat began to drop down her face, a blush plastering her features.

Naruto's ears picked up the sound Hinata made as he opened his eyes to see her playing with her fingers, glancing away from him.

"Hinata? What are you doing here?"

"EEEP! N-N-Naruto-kun I-I justwantedtoletyouknowthatbreakfastisreadu!" Hinata jumped in her place as she stammered out the words at the speed of light.

Naruto paused to take in what Hinata said, but all that came out of it was a blank look from the blonde.

"You're speaking way too fast, ya know."

"Y-You shouldn't push yourself so hard…" Hinata warned her friend in a barely audible whisper, fortunately for her, Naruto picked up her words.

"No way! I have to undergo all of this training! If I can't get stronger, then how will I become Hokage AND proof to Inari that heroes exist?!" Naruto asked Hinata.

It was a rhetoric question, so Hinata didn't say anything in response.

"So, what are you doing here? Did you come just to tell me whatever you had said?" Naruto questioned the short-haired Hyuga.

"W-Well…" Hinata began to play with her fingers again as she crossed her legs together, "I-I came here to m-make sure you were...alright, and I w-wanted to train also."

"Hinata, I just wanted to ask you. Why do you want to get stronger?" Naruto asked the girl, who let out a 'Huh?' in response. "Everyone has their reason to get stronger! Like me, I want to become Hokage, ya know! But I don't know your reasons."

"U-Umm...well…" Hinata flinched as she began to feel multiple drops of sweat fall onto the skin of her feet. "I-I want to prove myself...to my father and my clan...I want to stop being a burden...and...I-I want to prove myself to someone, someone I admire."

"Someone you admire?" Naruto repeated as he got up close into Hinata's facing, causing the girl to whimper as her face grew beet red, "Who? Who?"

Who?! She could NOT, absolutely NOT tell him that he was the person that she admired! What if he begins to dislike her because of it?! The possibilities are endless!

"I-I am not-I don't want to reveal who…" Hinata murmured as Naruto let out a sigh of disappointment, hoping to learn something about Hinata.

Naruto simply couldn't understand the Hyuga.

She acts...nervous and shy around everyone, but it is always the worst with HIM! Why HIM?! Is it because she hated him?! No, if she hated him, she would be more open about it and she wouldn't be as scared as a mouse!

So why did she act like this around him?

"Ahh never mind." Suddenly a light bulb when off in Naruto's head, "Hey! I got an idea! How about we spar each other?!"

"S-S-S-Spar each other?!" Hinata repeated with multiple stutters, suddenly feeling like she was in a dream that was too good to be true.

Naruto nodded his ear with a grin, "We'll both get stronger out of it! Come on, it'll be fun!" Naruto stepped off his foot and leaped backwards, forming a hand sign, declaring "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" forming about 5 other Naruto's as the six of them all charged Hinata, much to her dismay as she quickly stepped back into a Gentle Fist stance, getting ready to fight back.

* * *

 **Later**

 _*Clap* *Clap*_

 _*Smack* *Smack*_

The sounds of battle echoed throughout the air of the morning as two Genin could be seen duking it out.

Hinata couldn't believe that she was doing well against Naruto, the one who she could barely talk to! For some reason, she was feeling a burst of adrenaline that was pushing her to fight Naruto, despite her tendency to act shy around him.

She broke herself out of trance with a help of surprise as she ducked another yet another attempt of a hook to the side of her face.

As Hinata continued to spar with Naruto and his bunshins, she noticed her movements getting just a little bit better along with her reaction times.

Naruto's taijutsu seems to have improved as well, along with Naruto's bunshins.

Originally, Naruto would practically charge the enemy head on without a care in the world. And his bunshins, much worse. His clones had acted like they didn't have a brain, they just ran around the battlefield swinging at the opponent randomly.

But now, they had moments of coordination. Although not as much as the original, the clones had actually managed to get a couple of hits in on Hinata.

To her surprise, Hinata was actually having a lot of fun training with Naruto like this. Obviously, since they were only training, they refrained from using shuriken and kunai and Hinata didn't try to shut off Naruto's tenketsu nor damage his internal organs.

The tenketsu part was because...Hinata actually couldn't see the tenketsu yet, her Byakugan had developed far enough, as the former heriess had barely activated the dojutsu outside of training and even when she was training the sessions were short and she was almost never watched by another unless they wanted to insult her, especially after her younger sister took over the mantle of heiress. The organ part was that could actually immobilize Naruto for the entire day or even kill him, both things Hinata didn't want.

And she did not want to hurt Naruto in the slightest.

Hinata could feel the fatigue coming to her, Naruto was also fatigued, if not more than Hinata.

It amazed her how Naruto could stress body doing the tree exercise and exhausting so much Chakra and he could still summon a ton of clones and perform well in a sparring match.

But his movements were starting to get sluggish, which meant that the fatigue was finally hitting Naruto like a truck.

Naruto aimed a punch at Hinata's face, but it was very slow, Hinata easily sidestepped it and gave Naruto a palm to the chest, forcing a little Chakra in to her strike to blow Naruto backwards.

"OW!" Naruto yelped as his body hit the floor, unable to get up again as he looked up at the sky panting and wheezing. Maybe training vigorously overnight was not such a good idea.

"Well well, what do we have here? Two Genin hard at work," The calm, lazy voice of Kakashi Hatake droned as Hinata turned to see him and Sasuke walking towards them. "Hinata, you never ate breakfast, you should head back, you too, Naruto."

Hinata shook her head, "I'm not hungry right now, I'll be fine."

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto, who was lying down laughing to himself.

"Hn, dumbass."

Naruto's ears picked up the insult as a tick mark formed on Naruto's head. With new found energy due to Sasuke merely insulting him, Naruto sat up straight and glared at Sasuke.

"You've got something to say, teme?!"

"Hard of hearing, dumbass?"

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!" Naruto jumped up fully, getting close to Sasuke's face, "ME! YOU!" Naruto pointed to the two trees behind him, "THOSE TWO TREES, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!"

"You're too close, dobe!" Sasuke put his hand on Naruto's face pushing it away forcefully, causing the blonde to fall to the ground on his back before curving his lips into a smirk, "If you really want to lose so badly, I guess I'll teach you a lesson."

Hinata and Kakashi only watched as Naruto and Sasuke continued to bicker and insult each other, eventually starting to run their respective tree, attempting to reach the very tippy top of the tree before the other person can.

Hinata sighed with a small smile on her face. There they went again…

Competing against each other like brothers.

* * *

 **Later That Day-Tazuna's House**

Hinata, Kakashi, Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari turned their head towards the door at the sound of wood creaking and followed by the door shutting behind the people who entered.

The two people who had entered had evidence of a tough workout. Dirt and grime covered their faces and clothes, both barely managing to walk, hunting their backs over as they could barely walk up straight.

In fact, one of them needed the other to hold them up for support.

"Naruto-kun...Sasuke-kun…" Hinata identified the two.

"And why do you two look so dirty?" Tazuna asked the boys.

"We both climbed to the very top." Naruto answered with a grin, Kakashi nodding his head out of approval.

"Ok." Earlier, while watching them train, Kakashi had already seen Naruto and Sasuke go past the required mark to climb. However, the two of them kept pushing themselves for the extra practice, so he challenged them to climb to the very top. "Naruto, Sasuke, you two can guard Tazuna-san as well next time."

Sasuke closed his eyes and let out a small smile while Naruto lifted his fist up in the air forcibly, followed by him and Sasuke leaning backwards and dropping to the ground on their bottoms.

"You stupid idiot!" Sasuke insulted as the others except Inari began to laugh, with Kakashi and Hinata being the quietest.

"The bridge is almost complete." Tazuna informed the group after managing to sit Naruto and Sasuke down at the table. "It's all thanks to you."

"But don't push yourselves too hard." Tsunami warned the Genin, Naruto and Sasuke in particular due to their...outside activities.

"I wanted to ask this for a while now, but...why did you decide to continue on with the mission even when you found out I lied about the mission details?" Tazuna asked Kakashi directly.

"Not doing the right thing when knowing it is right is the coward's way out. Under a strong and valiant commander, there is no such thing as cowardice and weak soldiers." Kakashi quoted, much to the confusion of Tazuna and Tsunami. Seeing and picking up the confused faces, Kakashi clarified, "They're the teachings of the previous Hokage."

Silence followed that statement for about a minute. Unknown to everyone, as no one was paying attention to him, Inari was glaring at Naruto's leaning figure, eyes closed and his arms on the table with a care in the world…

 _How disgusting!_

His arms began to tremble as he began to clench his fists and grit his teeth so hard and for so long that he didn't know he was doing it. His vision began to blur as he felt drops of water in his eyes.

"Why…"

"Huh? Why what?" Naruto raised his head out of interest as he looked at Inari, only to see multiple tears streaming down his voice as he stood up and slammed his hands on the table with force, an angry look on his face.

"Why do you keep pushing yourself to the point of ending up like that? All this training is just a worthless waste of time! Gato has an entire army, they'll beat you down and kill you!" Inari bellowed at the top of his lungs, ignoring the looks of awe the others were giving him, "Why can't you see it?! The strong always win and the weak always lose!"

Everyone could hear Inari's voice beginning to break, his tone starting to crack as he gave into his emotional depression.

Naruto shrugged it off as he closed his eyes and replied, "Speak for yourself! With me here, something like that won't happen with me around."

"Shut up!" Inari bawled his eyes out, closing his eyes tightly as he remembered Kaiza getting executed in front of his eyes, "It makes me sick, how you go through life just laughing everything off without a care in the world! You don't know anything about this country, you're just being nosy! You don't know one bit about how it feels like to suffer and to be treated like a worm!"

Naruto's body movement stiffened as he dipped his head further down towards the darkness of his arms. Hinata let out a quiet gasp as she knew that Inari was starting to push Naruto's buttons, she glanced at Sasuke to see him giving Inari a look of anger and disgust.

A statement like that to Naruto was an insult to Sasuke as well, as someone who lost everything on one single night due to the person he _used_ to look up to.

"Just look at you, crying and whining as if you're some sorry little helpless victim!" Naruto growled as he sent a feral gaze of daggers straight into Inari's eyes, causing him to freeze up on the spot, "For all I care...a spineless crybaby like you can just keep on crying!"

Inari immediately looked at Naruto out of shock before breaking down in the spot, not being able to handle how vicious Naruto was being towards him.

Tsunami quickly ran over to Inari in an attempt to comfort him, only for her son to shove her arm away and run out of the house

Naruto pushed himself out of the chair, standing up and shoving his hands into his pockets, scowling and closing his eyes as he left the dinner table and stormed off to where he was sleeping in Tazuna's house.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered as she watched the boy leave, Hinata stood up out of her chair, preparing to go after Inari, but Kakashi had already left in a flash.

So, she decided to follow Naruto.

* * *

 **Outside Tazuna's House**

The cold air of the ocean lashed out at Inari's skin. The cold was unbearable at the moment, but Inari didn't care.

He didn't understand why Naruto had acted like an asshole and got mad. From Inari's point of view, he was just saying the truth.

He didn't know what it meant to suffer, so what gave _him_ out of all people the right to act as if he has it worse?!

He heard footsteps on the hard wooden floor, someone came after him, probably his mother.

To his surprise, it wasn't Tsunami, or even Tazuna, it was Kakashi, no doubt here to scold him for lashing out at Naruto.

"May I join you?"

Secretly, that statement was not a question.

"Just save it, I know you're here to tell me to take back what I said, well I'm not! I was only telling you the truth!" Inari exclaimed loudly, hoping that with putting force into his voice that Kakashi would just leave.

Kakashi didn't answer as Inari heard the sound of footsteps coming closer to him. Inari glanced at the man as he took a seat next to him.

What could he say that could justify Naruto getting pissed for him telling the truth just now?

"Naruto can be a little...harsh, sometimes...but he doesn't hate you.' Kakashi started as he paused, letting the tension in the air settle.

"Tazuna-san told us what happened to your father…"

Inari narrowed his eyes out of anger, Naruto knew?! He knew, and he had the audacity to say what he said?!

"Naruto also grew up without a father for all of his life. In fact, he didn't even know what the love of having a _parent_ felt like." Kakashi stated, implying that Naruto grew up without both of his parents or a parent like figure. "And he didn't have a single friend back in village, and the villagers themselves resented him."

Inari's ears perked up out of interest. So...Naruto was all alone? Is that was Kakashi was saying?

"He was all alone? But what about you, the girl and the other guy?" Inari asked.

"I didn't make much contact with Naruto when he was younger. Naruto had met Sasuke and Hinata in the Academy. Due to...reasons that I can't state, Sasuke had become antisocial, and he deemed the others in his class as weak and bit worth his time."

Kakashi paused to let that sink in.

"On the other hand, Hinata was one of the few who actually wanted to take to Naruto. However, problems with her clan caused Hinata to be damaged socially and emotionally. No matter how much she wanted to, she could never bring herself to confront Naruto."

Inari was surprised at this, as when he overheard some of the team's conversations, they seemed like good friends.

"Despite all of this, I never saw Naruto ever grow timid, give up, or cry. He's desperate to make people acknowledge him, that's...his dream. And he would put his life on the life to fulfill that dream. I think that Naruto just got tired of crying, and decided to do something about it."

Inari looked out at the ocean as he took all of this information. He was wrong about Naruto.

He did suffer.

"That's why he knows the true meaning of being strong, like your father. Naruto is probably the one who can understand your pain the best."

Granted, Sasuke was more similar to Inari than Naruto, as like Inari, Sasuke lost something, whereas Naruto had nothing to begin with.

However, Sasuke devoted his life to revenge. Hinata could also understand Inari's pain a bit, but not nearly as much as Naruto.

"Those things that Naruto said to you earlier, while they seem harsh and outright cruel…"

Another long pause as Kakashi looked at Inari, giving him an eye smile.

"I'm sure he's told himself the same thing thousands of times."

* * *

 **Meanwhile-Inside Tazuna's House**

 _Damn kid! Who does he think he is, saying stuff like that when he doesn't know anything?!_ Naruto thought to himself as he stormed into his room.

Suddenly, he felt his legs go numb as he dropped to the ground, letting out a quiet cry of pain as he fell to his knees.

Suddenly, Naruto heard rapid footsteps coming down the hallway, coming towards the room.

He turned his head to see Hinata running in.

"Are you okay? What happened?!" Hinata asked frantically out of concern, surprisingly, without a stutter.

 _She's...concerned…_

"I'm fine, just tired, that's all." Naruto assured her with a fox like grin.

Normally, Hinata's heart would flutter when ever he gave her a similar look, but not this time. She could easily tell that Naruto was faking his face.

"You...You don't have to take a smile...all the time...not with me." Hinata mumbled quietly.

"Huh? Faking? What do you mean? This face is genuine, ya know!" Naruto pointed to his grinning face with both fingers.

"Naruto-kun...you don't have to hide it, I know you're upset." Hinata said.

"Hinata, I'm fine. Don't worry about it! I'll get over it soon, besides, Inari didn't know."

"Naruto-kun... I'm sorry." Hinata immediately apologized taking a deep bow as she tried her best not to cry.

Oh no, now she was crying.

"Don't cry! What's wrong, why are you sorry?" Naruto asked the girl calmly, taken aback from the girl's sudden outburst.

"I-I…" Hinata sobbed as she mustered up the courage to tell him, "I know how you have always been alone, I've wanted to befriend you for a long time now! But...I was too shy to do it, and because of that, you've had to go through life without a friend…the incident with Inari-kun made me remember...ever since we became a team, I kept trying to out it at the back of my head, but everyday I think about that!"

A mix of emotions flooded through Naruto. One was a hint of anger that Hinata knew he was suffering and didn't bother to help him. Another one was confusion...and then there was...relief?

"It's alright." Naruto accepted the apology, trying to shove off the emotions he was feelinge, much to the Hyuga's surprise. "Hey, what's important now is that we're friends now, right?"

The words traveled through one of Hinata's ear and they never left the other, they were stuck in a loop of being relayed through Hinata's head.

" _We're friends now, right?"_

" _We're friends now, right?"_

" _We're friends now, right?"_

She blushed as she closed her eyes with a smile.

"Y-Yes!"

Friends...

Was that all they would ever be?

* * *

 **The Next Day**

"W-What is all of this?!" Tazuna exclaimed out of shock as he witnessed the multiple bodies of the workers on the ground.

The group had woken and up and went off to the bridge without Naruto, who, to their knowledge, was still asleep.

"It can't be…" Kakashi murmured to himself as he turned to one of his students, "Hinata!"

Hinata nodded, knowing what to do as she formed multiple hand signs, bringing her hands up to her face as she uttered one word, "Byakugan!"

Veins bulged around her eyes as she began to scan the area around the bridge, eventually looking down into the ground, using the Byakugan to see through it.

She gasped out of fear as she cried out, "I see 7 Chakra signatures close by, 5 are lurking other the bridge! 6 if them are the same person while the other one is different!"

 _Mizu Bunshins (Water Clones), and the other person should be that so called hunter-nin!_ Kakashi thought to himself

"You two, get ready! Protect Tazuna-san!" Kakashi commanded, prompting Hinata and Sasuke to take a defensive stance around Tazuna, morning a triangle with him in the middle.

A sudden thick mist rolled into the area, the same Jutsu from last time.

And they waited, for Zabuza to strike.

Eventually, after quite a bit of waiting, they heard the voice that they definitely did not want to hear at the moment.

Zabuza…

"Sorry for the wait...Kakashi."

* * *

 **Finished!**

 **So, the next 1 or 2 chapters will be spent on the fight on the bridge. Since that fight lasts a good couple of episodes, I am of course going to skip some parts and maybe I'll change the battles a little bit.**

 **And now, both** _ **with**_ _**and without**_ **careful thinking, I decided that I** _ **am**_ **going to show Team 8/Team Kurenai for like 2-3 chapters before the Chunin Exams.**

 **Anyways that is all for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter, take care, goodbye!**


	7. Wave

The chilling voice of Zabuza sent shivers down Hinata's spine as she found herself trembling in her place once again, the arm holding her kunai shaking dangerously.

Sasuke's hand was also trembling as he kept a focused look on his face, knocking any sort of emotions out of the ballpark.

"He's shaking again." Zabuza noted, despite not being there, right in front of them, Zabuza could sense Sasuke's movement and fear. Sasuke's trembling stopped as he soon realized that 5 Zabuzas had surrounded them.

Sasuke smirked, much to the surprise of the Zabuza Bunshin in front of him. "I'm shaking with excitement."

Kakashi have a confident eye smile, "Go for it, Hinata, Sasuke!"

All Zabuza's thrusted their swords toward the group, Hinata and Sasuke reacted quickly, with Hinata jumping over the blade and puncturing her kunai into Zabuza's chest, her hands were immediately met by dripping water as the Bunshin dissolved into water. Hinata pivoted her foot so she was facing the Zabuza Bunshin attacking Tazuna, who was frozen in place to move.

With great speed she jumped into the air and struck the Bunshin with a Juuken strike, the Zabuza she hit also turning into water.

Sasuke, meanwhile, simply rushed the first one, sidestepping his blade and slashing him across the stomach, he emplaned his foot onto the ground, jumping off of it and towards another Zabuza.

The Zabuza he was coming towards gripped his sword tightly, attempting to slash Sasuke with a left swing, only for the Uchiha to spring himself into the air, landing on the blade and taking another leap upwards, turning his body to the last Zabuza.

He flinged his kunai right for Zabuza's chest, the weapon getting implanting itself deep in the Bunshin's chest while Sasuke assaulted the Zabuza he was above, bringing his enclosed fists on the clone's head with great power.

Both Bunshins were killed.

"Kakashi-sensei, two more clones!" Hinata pointed to the sky, where two more Zabuza Bunshins were coming down on the group in an attempt of a sneak attack.

Kakashi merely pulled out some shuriken and hurled them at the Bunshins, stabbing and destroying them.

"Those kids got stronger, particularly the Uchiha." The voice of Zabuza was heard further down the bridge, the demon of the Mist standing there with his companion posing as a hunter-nin, "It seems a rival has appeared for you, Haku."

"So that kid really is aligned with you, Zabuza." Kakashi stated, referring to Haku.

"I'll fight him." Sasuke opted immediately.

"Sasuke-kun!" Hinata exclaimed out of surprise.

"I have to get him back for that little act he pulled on us. I hate conceited guys like that." Sasuke explained bluntly.

"I-I don't think that's a good idea…" Hinata whispered, however her voice was too soft for Sasuke to pick up on what she had said. And frankly, at that moment, he didn't care what she said, he was still gonna fight the guy named Haku.

But as she continued to look at the situation, Hinata realized there wasn't much they could do, they were pinned to the end of the bridge by Haku and Zabuza.

"Go, Haku." Zabuza commanded, with said person responding with "Yes sir" as he made his move.

The boy began to move towards Sasuke, but he was moving so fast that he looked like a blur spinning in circles.

"What?!" Sasuke gaped out of shock, taking out another kunai in his pouch, gripping it tightly. He focused, trying to keep up with Haku's speed as he ran forward, holding up his kunai, ready to strike.

 _CLANG!_

The sound of kunai meeting with senbon rang throughout the air as the standing figures of Haku and Sasuke were seen glaring at each other, albeit Haku's eyes couldn't be seen due to his mask.

 _How interesting, he was able to catch up to his speed, even though he couldn't keep up me in the slightest while I held back in our last encounter..._ Zabuza noted as he glared at Kakashi, who glared back with his visible eye.

"Hinata, stay close to Tazuna-san and stand guard! Don't get too far from him! Without Naruto, we have one less person to help guard, so you cannot make a mistake! Let Sasuke deal with this guy!" Kakashi informed the girl.

The sound of a gulp could be heard coming from the girl as she began to sweat at the role forcefully assigned to her.

"Yes, sensei!"

 _Come on Hinata, this is no time to freeze up! Not when your comrades need you!_ Hinata took a stance, holding her kunai closer to her body as she shimmied over, closer to Tazuna.

Sasuke and Haku parted away from each other, taking a step back as they both spun in place, preparing to strike each other with their respective weapon, once again freezing in place due to a struggle with their weapons clashing against each other.

"I don't want to kill you, but you won't back off no matter what I say, right?" The shake of Sasuke's head along with his grin all but confirmed the answer, "As I thought...but you won't be able to keep up with my next move. I have the upper hand here!"

Haku held up his free hand and brought it up to his face, making a sign, much to Sasuke's shock.

 _He's forming a hand sign using only 1 hand!_ Sasuke widened his eyes as he realized that he could only block or take whatever Haku was going to dish out.

"Sensatsu Suisho (Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death)!" On Haku's exclamation, the water left by the Zabuza clones rose from the ground, before separating into 1000 bits, changing into a solid needle, all directed toward Sasuke.

Sasuke formed a hand sign as he began to mold Chakra right when the needles rushed towards him, preparing to strike in 1000 places in order to kill him. Haku leaped backwards.

"Sasuke-kun!" Hinata called out of concern as the needles seemed to have hit Sasuke, a blue cloud forming as a result, however, her concern turned to relief when she saw him leap at the last moment with her Byakugan, appearing to shoot right out of the cloud high in the sky, using his Chakra to propel himself in the air by transferring Chakra to his feet.

Haku skid to a halt, directed his gaze upwards as he saw Sasuke chucking shuriken at him, causing the fake hunter-nin to continuously leap backwards in order to avoid getting hit.

While Haku was distracted with dodging, Sasuke had appeared right behind him, commenting how slow he was as Haku quickly reacted, stepping away from Sasuke as both attempted to hit each other with the sides of their arms, only for them to collide and hold each other in place.

Sasuke smirked as he took the kunai in his free head and flicked it towards Haku's head with a twist of his fingers, Haku let out a sound of surprise as he crouched down to the ground, avoiding the kunai to the head.

However, Haku couldn't dodge forever, and right after he ducked down, his face was met with a powerful kick from Sasuke, sending the ninja flying back towards Zabuza.

"Haku was beaten in speed?" Zabuza widened his eyes, genuinely surprised for once by Sasuke's actions.

"You can't make fun of our team just because we have children." Kakashi retorted as he continued, "Sasuke Uchiha is the top rookie of Konoha! Hinata Hyuga is the village's little princess who packs a punch!"

Hinata blushed slightly at the compliment despite the situation.

"And the last one likes to show off and he's number one when it comes to surprising people. He's the #1 hyperactive knucklehead ninja, Naruto Uzumaki!" Kakashi spoke with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Haku, do you understand that you're going to get defeated like this?" Zabuza asked his companion, who rose back to his feet.

"Yes." Haku answered as a purple fire like substance began to radiate off of Haku.

"Wh-What is that?!" Hinata wondered out loud.

"That's...cold air…" Sasuke identified, still confused on what Haku was doing as said boy made a hand sign.

"Sasuke-kun, behind you!" Came Hinata's voice, prompting the Uchiha to look behind him to see ice forming behind him, surrounding both him and Haku in multiple mirrors made of ice.

"Makyo Hyosho (Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors)!" Haku recited the name of the technique as he proceeded to step into one of the mirror that formed, shocking everyone present, except Zabuza of course.

Sasuke widened his eyes as he witnessed Haku's entire body appear on each and every mirror.

"Damn it!" Kakashi cursed as he ran towards the mirror prison Sasuke was trapped in, only for Zabuza to appear right in front, cutting him off from the prison.

"I'm your opponent, remember? He's a goner now that Haku has unleashed that technique." Zabuza retorted with a cocky smile under his mask.

"Let's begin," Haku said as Sasuke scanned each and every mirror, "I will show you my true speed." Haku held multiple senbon in between his fingers as multiple senbon were thrown from all of the mirror at great speed, so fast that Sasuke didn't have time to react.

Sasuke yelled ou in pain as the multiple senbon nicked at his skin and clothes, causing blood to spill out and his clothes getting ripped.

"Sasuke/Sasuke-kun!" Both Kakashi and Hinata exclaimed in unison. Kakashi directed his attention to Zabuza, he had to finish this quickly and get to Sasuke.

"If you move without thinking, I'll kill the two behind you." Zabuza warned the copy ninja.

As Sasuke continued to get assaulted by the senbon, he gave it his very all to keep the kunai in his hand gripped, trying to fight through the pain, Sasuke threw his kunai at a mirror in front of him.

Fortunately, the assault of the senbon halted. However, what surprised Sasuke was that Haku had popped out of the mirror and grabbed the kunai.

Haku turned the kunai around so that the sharp point was aimed at Sasuke, and he was about to throw it at the Uchiha, who was still feeling the pain of the senbon.

However, the next thing they knew, Haku was hit in the face by a single shuriken, causing a crack to form in his mask as, the shuriken had come from the outside of the mirror prison. He fell out of the mirror and dropped to the ground, immediately getting up to his knees to guard himself.

Outside the prison, a proof of smoke appeared as the silhouette of a certain blonde appeared.

"Naruto Uzumaki is back in action!"

* * *

 **Later**

With Naruto's arrival, the fight had eventually turned out for the better,

Originally, he only made it worse as he entered the mirror prison like an idiot instead of attacking it from the outside in succession with Sasuke, who was inside.

Despite this, they managed to hold on against Haku, and learned about how he really didn't want to be a Shinobi, and that he only became one so he could help fulfill Zabuza's dream.

Kakashi and Zabuza had also began their fight, with Zabuza taking the upper hand in their fight and making it so Kakashi couldn't help Naruto and Sasuke at the risk of Tazuna being killed.

As Naruto and Sasuke continued to struggle through their fight, Sasuke had started to just barely pick up on Haku's movements, actually managing to predict her movements at some moments, much to the boy's surprise.

Sasuke had went on to essentially carry Naruto through the battle, finally activating his Sharingan in the process. During the battle, Haku pulled out multiple senbon and began to target Naruto, with Sasuke resorting to take the senbon head on for the blonde…

" _Don't let...your dream die…"_

He had left this world with those words. Naruto hugged the body of his now dead friend tightly, not wanting it to be true.

"Sasuke-kun…" Hinata whispered out of fear. Thanks to her Byakugan, she could see that Sasuke was actually alive, but in a near-death state. Naruto was now fighting Haku alone…

Were they going to fail the mission? Naruto seemed to be fatigued, so without anyone to help, did they even have a chance?

"Is the first time you have seen a friend die?" Haku asked Naruto curiously, turning his body towards the boy holding the Uchiha pincushion. "That is the path of a ninja." Haku once again walked backwards into one of her mirror.

"Shut up…" Naruto spoke menacingly, "I hated you too...Sasuke…" Steam began to flow around Naruto and Sasuke, all gathering and rising to the sky in one spot. "You will pay…"

Haku shivered as she felt it. Menacing killing intent. Killing intent that rivaled Zabuza's own...no, this killing intent was even more menacing.

The white steam flowing around Naruto and Sasuke disappeared momentarily, before coming back with a red fiery hue, before turning complete orange.

Hinata noticed this orange Chakra with her Byakugan, and how it had basically devoured Naruto's blue Chakra. She also noted how dark and arid the air felt, with a high amount of killing intent that, if she had body hair, would make her hair stand up.

 _What is that orange Chakra?_ Hinata wondered with a worried look on her face, feeling helpless once again to the team.

Naruto's blonde hair became more jagged and pointed, his finger nails become sharper and longer like a predator as Naruto revealed his face, revealing blood red eyes with pointy teeth, his whisker marks more feral and pronounced than than before.

" **I'm gonna kill you!** " Naruto growled as he sent Haku an intimidating glare, the orange Chakra become more wild as it enveloped Naruto.

"This is impossible...the Chakra...it's taking form…" Haku mused, widening his eyes from under his mask

The orange Chakra began to form into a face, the face of the fox...the Kyuubi, the Biju with nine tails.

Naruto's wounds began to steam as the senbon stuck in Naruto's body popped off, his wounds beginning to heal and close rapidly.

"His wounds, they're healing so fast...just what is this boy?" Haku froze and took a step back when Naruto glared right at him, staring into her soul with fury, and an intent to kill.

This killing intent was so strong, that even Kakashi and Zabuza were startled by it. It was so menacing, that Kakashi had thought in disbelief that it wasn't even coming from Zabuza, much less Haku.

"No...this Chakra, this menacing and ill Chakra, it belongs to...don't tell me that his…" Kakashi gaped under his mask, a panicked expression growing as he feared the worst.

"This Chakra...and the killing intent, is it Kakashi? No, this Chakra is much too big to belong to Kakashi. Who is it then?!" Zabuza muttered to himself as he looked back at the ice prison, where Haku was fighting Naruto and Sasuke, and also where he saw the source of the orange Chakra. "Don't tell me that one of those brats are releasing the Chakra!"

 _Why...at a time like this, why did the seal have to break?!_

Haku protected himself with his arms as the harsh wind blew all round Naruto, lashing out at any unfortunate soul nearby.

"This thirst for blood...he's different from the boy from a while ago...completely different…" Haku noted as Naruto let out a fierce roar, prompting Haku to put his guard up, ready for anything Naruto had planned on doing…

If that was even Naruto anymore…

Naruto leaped off his feet as he rushed towards the mirror Haku was in on all fours, like a lion or some other kind of beast.

Haku threw some senbon at Naruto, but an ensuing shockwave made of orange Chakra coming from Naruto deflected them before they could even get close.

Haku quickly reacted and switched mirrors, moving to one above and behind Naruto.

 _He deflected it with just his Chakra?!_ Haku thought out of disbelief. _Then…_

Haku appeared on each and every mirror as every copy lifted their arm to throw senbon.

Naruto glared at one behind him as he was implied by every senbon Aimee and thrown at his back. Naruto grimaced momentarily before letting out a fierce roar, once again blowing all of the senbon away.

All of the Haku's disappeared on the mirrors, except for one, Naruto galloped towards the mirror, jumped and punched the mirror hard, shattering it into pieces.

Hinata noticed the destruction of the mirror as she saw Haku appearing out one above Naruto, attempting to slam his body on top of the boy with senbon, only for the blonde side flip away from his spot with great speed, by the time Haku landed, Naruto had already set his sights on him.

He dashed towards Haku, who was left wide open and let out a mighty roar, holding back a tight fist to slug Haku right in the face, orange Chakra rushing everywhere

throughout the prison.

With grit teeth like an animal, Naruto unleashed his punch, smashing Haku right in the face as the sound of the punch was so loud it echoed in the distance for all to hear.

Haku was blown right threw a mirror, shattering as the shockwave formed from the punch destroyed all other mirrors. Haku tumbled across the bridge as his mask began to tear into two.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata widened her eyes as she saw the boy dash right towards Haku with great speed, feeling a ferocious intent to kill.

Haku rose to her feet, letting Naruto come to him as his mask began to fall off.

 _It's over...I can't compete with him...Zabuza-san...I…_

Naruto released a punch towards Haku's face as the boy braced for impact, ready to accept his defeat at the hands of the blonde.

But the punch never came.

The flattering of his mask hitting the ground was heard as Naruto had stopped his punch, inches from Haku's face.

Hinata gasped out of shock as she looked at Naruto's Chakra…

 _It's blue again! Then...what was that orange Chakra?_ Hinata thought to herself out of confusion. _Why did he stop?_ Hinata looked at Haku again to see a familiar face…

"Hinata, go help Naruto! I will protect Tazuna-san on my own from here." Kakashi commanded as Hinata nodded her head, making sure that Zabuza wouldn't make any suspicious moves before running down the bridge past Kakashi, despite the thick fog.

"Are you sure that is a good idea? Without anyone to guard the bridge builder, it is mere child's play to kill him now." Zabuza said.

"I am fully aware. But even without her, you won't be getting to Tazuna-san, you're having way too much fun with this fight right now, aren't you? The adrenaline running through your veins, the desire to take me down and finish me, so you'll have the right to say that you killed the Konoha Copy Ninja!" Kakashi exclaimed, and judging from Zabuza's grin that he could see due to the movement in his mask, he had hit the jackpot.

Naruto's features returned to normal, his eyes turning blue, his nails striking, his whiskers and teeth looking less feral and beastlike.

"You're the guy from before…" Naruto mused as he remembered the boy he had met in the forest, in the pink dress and long hair, thinking that he was a girl before Hinata had come.

"Why did you stop?" At Naruto's gasp, she clarified, "I killed an important friend of yours, but you cannot kill me?" Haku spoke with an emotionless look in his eyes, a stream of blood running down and out of his mouth.

Naruto's fist trembled as he remembered Sasuke's lifeless body lying down on the ground, his anger rising again, he brought his fist back, jumping forward as he punched Haku in the face, with nowhere near as much power as earlier with the orange Chakra.

Despite this, Haku stumbled backwards and dropped to the ground, letting out a cough as he rose to his knees.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata arrived at that moment, much to the blonde's surprise.

"Hinata?! I thought you were guarding the bridge builder!"

"Kakashi-sensei told me to come help you!" Hinata explained quickly as she took a Gentle Fist stance.

"Hinata wait, he's-"

"The boy you met in the forest." Hinata finished for the blonde, much to his surprise.

Hinata had chosen to leave the things like that Sasuke was alive and the the thing with the orange Chakra a secret for the time being, as now really wasn't the time.

"Where did that energy of yours go? You can't defeat me like that." Haku stated as he wiped his face with his arm, ignoring Hinata's existence. "He wasn't an important person to you, then?"

" _Do you have a person that's important to you?"_

" _I want to protect an important person. I want to make his dream come true._ That _is my dream."_

The two things that Haku had said in the past replayed in Naruto's head as he took a step back, with Haku getting back up fully.

"There are some people who have no idea. They fail to defeat an enemy, show them mercy instead, and decide not to take his life...if you ask me, doing something like that is not the same as having mercy. Do you know the pain of living without a dream? Knowing you're not needed by anyone?"

Hinata froze when she heard that, relating to it as she has never made any impact on anybody and has always been a burden to others rather than helping them. She deactivated her Byakugan as she chose to listen, clutching her head as she felt a light pain from overusing her Byakugan.

"Just where are you getting at?" Naruto asked the boy, confused on why he was saying this now of all times.

"Zabuza-san does not need a weak ninja. You took my reason to exist."

"Why…? Why do you fight for a guy like that? He makes money from horrible people and does so many bad things! Is that no-browed bastard really the only person important to you?!" Naruto questioned, curious to know the answer.

"A long time ago...I _used_ to have people who were important to me." Haku answered.

Oh no, he said _used to_ , that never meant anything good, Hinata just knew it.

"My parents...I was born to a small village in Mizu no Kuni (Land of Water), where the snow piled up deep. All we did was farm, and we were poor, but my father and mother were happy. _I_ was happy, they were very kind parents. But when I first took notice of my surroundings something happened." Haku started as he wiped the blood streaming down his face, looking at it now that it was smeared on his finger.

"This blood…"

Naruto and Hinata gave looks of confusion at the two words…

Haku raised his head to face the two, his eyes blank, void of any emotion, and to any normal person, it was unbelievable how Haku managed to say what he had said with an emotionless face…

"My father killed my mother...and he tried to kill me too."

Naruto and Hinata widened their eyes and froze in place, horrified of the revelation.

Naruto especially, as he never had any parents, and never had a good example of a parent. Were all parents like this? Should he be glad he didn't even have parents at all?

"Mizu no Kuni has experienced many civil wars in the past, and those possessing a kekkei genkai were hated."

"You have a kekkei genkai?" Naruto repeated out of disbelief, he had actually thought that Haku wasn't from a clan.

Haku nodded her head, "Correct, and because of the kekkei genkai they possessed, the families were used in many disputes and the country itself feared them to be the harbingers of disasters and wars. After the wars, those families hid their abilities and lived on because of their secret was revealed, only death awaited them. That boy and this girl probably had a hard time with this as well…"

Hinata looked down at the ground, remembering the Hyuga Affair 9 years ago, around the day of her 3rd birthday. A Kumo ninja had snuck into the Hyuga Manor and kidnapped her while she was sleeping, and since she hadn't undergone any training, she could no nothing to defend herself...not that she would have stood a chance.

In the end, the father of her cousin, Neji, was sacrificed due to his resemblance to Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata's father, as the two were twin brothers.

"Yes…" Hinata murmured, as Naruto grew interested on what Hinata was thinking about at the moment.

"Those who possess a kekkei genkai are feared by everyone. My mother possessed a kekkei genkai, the same Ice Style that I use. She kept it a secret and married my father, and she believed that she could lead an ordinary life for the rest of her life…" Haku continued as he spoke about the day he had ruined those beliefs.

The day he had accidentally learned about his kekkei genkai and used them in front of his mother, earning a literal slap to the face and being forbidden from being able to use her kekkei genkai.

"Unfortunately, Father had seen…"

Haku remembered the day his mother died, and the men backing him up to a wall in order to murder him in cold blood, only for Haku to use his kekkei genkai out of defense, and then...darkness…

"When I came to, I realized that I killed Father. And I realized what the most painful thing to feel is. The feeling that you are needed by anyone in this world…"

Hinata hugged her body tightly as she pictured the clan, her father, and her cousin Neji, who had long since been controlled by anger and rage.

 _He's the same as me..._ Both Naruto and Hinata thought in unison.

"You said to me," Haku started, his attention directed to Naruto, "I want to become the strongest ninja in my village, and make everyone acknowledge me. When someone who accepts you from the bottom of their heart appears, that person should become the most important person to you."

Hinata snuck a glance at Naruto, not knowing if he had accepted her. But if he did, then she thinks that he would be the first...other than Hanabi, but her sister had long since changed…

"Zabuza-san knew that I had a kekkei genkai and raised me."

" _Kid, do you want to be needed by someone? Do you want to give up everything for me?"_

" _Starting today, your ability is mine."_

" _Come with me."_

"I was happy." Haku smiled as he looked down, "I'm sorry, Zabuza-san, I couldn't be the fool that you wished me to be." Haku looked up at Naruto and Hinata, walking towards them with Hinata sinking deeper into her stance, alarmed by Haku's actions.

"Naruto-kun, Hinata-san, one of you, please…kill me…"

* * *

 **Meanwhile-With Kakashi**

"Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu (Summoning: Earth Style: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu)!" Kakashi declared as he forced the scroll he was holding down into the ground, creating multiple ruptures in the ground.

"It's useless. You can't feel my presence at all. But, I know what you are doing very well, Kakashi. You have fallen into my trap completely." Zabuza said from somewhere in the thick fog, his eyes closed shooting his eyes open as he heard movement underground.

The next thing he knew, Zabuza was surrounded by multiple dogs who were all restraining him in some way, his arms, legs, every body part.

"That's what happens when you close your eyes in the mist. This is the summoning technique for pursuing purposes. Your weapon has my blood on them, _my_ scent. Those are my cute ninken (ninja dogs), and their noses work better than any ordinary dog's, _you_ fell into _my_ trap, Zabuza."

As Kakashi spoke, the mist began to clear, revealing Zabuza's location, with no way to move due to the dogs.

"The mist has cleared. Your future is death. You fooled around too much, Zabuza, your ambitions are too big. You failed in the assassination of the Mizukage and the coup d'etat against Kirigakure. You ran away and became a rogue ninja, and your name was given to Konoha immediately. In order to gain money and avoid pursuing ninja, you sided with scum like Gato."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he brought a hand and pointed to his Sharingan eye.

"Zabuza, do you think that I survived with just this Sharingan? Even before I received my Sharingan, I took part in battles in the Third Shinobi World War, and now I will show you _my_ technique. This is not a copy, it's my own creation."

With that statement, Kakashi began to form hand signs as he clutched his right wrist with his left hand, electricity forming in Kakashi's hand as blue Chakra began to flood the area around him.

Kakashi let out a yell as he forced his hand to the ground shouting, "Raikiri (Lightning Blade)!"

"What the...I can see the Chakra on his hand…" Zabuza mused as the crackling electricity in Kakashi's hand reflected off of his eyes.

"You're too dangerous. The person you are trying to kill, Tazuna-san, is this country's courage. The bridge he is trying to make is this country's hope. _Your_ ambition sacrifices too many people. That's not what a ninja does."

Zabuza let out a wide smirk under his mask, "Who cares? I have fought for my ideal and dream. That won't change in the future either."

"I will not say this again, give up. Your future is death."

* * *

 **With Haku, Naruto, and Hinata**

"Please, kill me."

After meeting Naruto and Hinata's hesitant gaze, she closed her eyes and continued to speak.

"Why are you two hesitating?"

Naruto clenched his fist, shaking his head roughly as he took a few steps back, "I cannot believe that stupid story! Weapon? Tool? You call a person like that an important person?! You're really okay with that?!"

"Is it wrong?" Haku replied calmly, with no hesitation or any other emotion at all in his voice. "What's wrong with that?"

"But that's…" Hinata trailed off as Haku continued.

"Zabuza-san had hopes for me. He needed me. But I have lost the purpose that made me, me. Zabuza-san will no longer need me. That's why I'm asking you. Now, hurry…why do you hesitate?"

"I don't understand! Is remaining strong the only reason you have for staying in this world?! You could have made people recognize you through something else other than fighting!" Naruto bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"The day I met you in the forest," Haku spoke to Naruto, "I felt that you were like me. You should understand. I'm sorry I have to spoil your hands."

"Is that...is that the only way?!" Hinata asked the fake hunter-nin, who nodded his head.

"Yes."

Naruto shut his eyes as he grit his teeth, "If I had met you under different circumstances…we might have been friends." Naruto shot open his eyes as he ran towards Haku screaming at the top of his lungs, kunai pulled out, read to do what he didn't want to do.

 _Thank you…I know you will become strong..._ Haku closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

"Naruto-kun, don't!" Hinata's plea fell on deaf ears as Naruto kept on rushing, Haku widened his eyes as he came to a realization.

Naruto thrusted his kunai towards Haku as he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the blood spill, however, when he felt a hand clasp his wrist, he gasped and opened his eyes out of shock as he saw Haku standing there.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." Haku then glanced in the direction that Kakashi and Zabuza were fighting in, seeing Kakashi using the Raikiri, looking like he was going to charge.

 _It seems I can do one more thing for you, Zabuza-san…_

Hinata, who didn't know Haku's intentions, assumed that he had tricked Naruto, she immediately rushed to his aid, only for Haku to disappear, much to their surprise.

Kakashi, who was running towards Zabuza with his hand surging with electricity, thrusted his hand forward, hitting flesh and impaling his hand through Zabuza's chest…

Or so he thought…

Zabuza had felt the ninken disappear, the summoning scroll Kakashi had used had senbon impaled in it, and Kakashi's hand was not impaled through his chest.

Kakashi and Zabuza widened their eyes out of shock, blood had spilled around everywhere, from the ground to on Haku's clothes and Zabuza and Kakashi's faces.

Kakashi felt the hand of the now bleeding and dying Haku grasp his wrist.

This scene was so familiar...all too familiar…

The scene of his hand thrusted through the chest of his friend, when he was actually trying to kill a Kiri Shinobi, he had killed the girl who was his friend and teammate instead, killing her and breaking his promise to Obito Uchiha.

"You're future is death." Zabuza quoted in a mocking tone, "You're wrong again, Kakashi."

Naruto turned around and circles, looking for wherever Haku would be, thinking that he was gonna come out of nowhere and kill either him or Hinata. He froze when he heard Hinata's horrified gasp.

"What is it?!" Naruto asked out of concern as he looked to where Hinata was looking, her hands covering her mouth, eyes widened.

Naruto widened his eyes as he saw Kakashi's hand on Haku's chest, a puddle of blood spilling the ground below them.

"Splendid, Haku." Zabuza stated with a smirk as Kakashi glared at the Demon of the Mist, who was in the air preparing to take out his sword and slice Kakashi and Haku's corpse in half. "I picked up something good! He gave me this opportunity at the very end!"

Zabuza unleashed a downwards slash, only for Kakashi to dodge the strike with a backflip, with Haku's body in tow.

"That bastard!" Naruto cursed something under his breath.

"Naruto, Hinata! Just stand there and watch! Don't interfere!" Kakashi commanded sternly, keeping his eyes on Zabuza as he set Haku's corpse down gently, placing his hand on his open lifeless eyes, closing them. "This is my fight!"

 _The old geezer is alright._ Naruto noted at the sight of Tazuna. _We're all alright! Except..._ Naruto looked behind him at Sasuke's body, shutting his eyes as tears appeared in his eyes. _Is this what...being a ninja is like…?_

"Don't look away from me, Kakashi!" Zabuza shouted as he came in running with sword, sending a side swipe towards Kakashi's head, with said Jonin ducking under the attack and kicking Zabuza hard in the stomach, sending the Jonin flying back.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata said the name of her teammate, Naruto didn't say a word, only making a sound to let Hinata know he was listening. "I didn't have time to tell you this because of the situation, but...Sasuke-kun is alive."

Naruto thought she was joking, and he was very mad at her because of it.

"Seriously, Hinata!" Naruto snapped, revealing an angry expression as he grabbed the collar of Hinata's jacket, "Don't give me that bullshit! I SAW Sasuke die in my hands! He's gone! He's...gone…" Naruto's angry expression softened into a sad one as tears sprouted in his eyes.

"No, I'm serious, his Chakra is still flowing, I can see it with my Byakugan, remember!" Naruto perked his ears up as he remembered Hinata announcing in the past that Zabuza was still alive, cleaning his tears, he ushered, "I'm sorry."

Albeit, he was relieved that Sasuke was merely unconscious. He felt like crying even more tears at the prospect of Sasuke being alive, but now was not the time.

"I'm going to go remove the senbon." Hinata spoke as she ran over to Sasuke's body behind them, with Naruto staying behind as he watched Naruto and Zabuza fight, seeing the two kunai stuck in Zabuza's arm.

Kakashi was effortlessly knocking Zabuza around, as the Demon of the Mist was heavily weakened, as he only had use of one arm, and Kakashi was currently behind him, Zabuza was attempting to swing his arms at Kakashi, only for the Jonin to stick his two more kunai into the Demon's arms, Zabuza's sword being flinged to another part of the bridge.

Now Zabuza couldn't use both of his arms.

The sudden sound of a cane hitting the ground was heard as everyone directed their attention to the end of the unfinished bridge, which they had long since left, continuing further down the bridge as they fought.

There, they saw Gato, with his entire army.

"Looks like you beaten pretty badly, I'm disappointed, Zabuza."

"Gato, why are you hear?" Zabuza questioned, glaring at the man who executed Kaiza publically. "And what's with those subordinates?"

"We had a little change in plans. I'm sorry, Zabuza, but you're going to die here. If I rent official ninja, it would cost a lot of money, so I rented a rogue ninja like you. If you ninja had just killed each other, it would have saved me trouble and money." Gato scoffed as he insulted Zabuza, "And you call yourself the Demon of Kirigakure no Sato? You're just a cute devil if you ask me."

 _So that is Gato..._ Hinata thought to herself as she looked at the army, feeling very intimidated by it.

"Kakashi, I'm sorry, but the battle ends here. Since I don't have a reason to kill Tazuna, I have lost reason to fight you." Zabuza stated as the group watched Gato walk forward slowly, towards the corpse of Haku.

"That reminds me of a favor I owe this guy, he almost broke my hand!" Gato let out a sadistic smirk as he kicked the dead corpse, much to the horror and disgust of Kakashi, Hinata, and Naruto, the last two letting out gasps.

Zabuza didn't seem to react or seem bothered in the slightest.

"He's already dead." Gato muttered under his breath as he poked Haku's face with his cane, I only wish he was alive to feel it."

"GET AWAY! GET THE THE FUCK AWAY YOU BASTARD!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs, making a mad dash towards Gato, only to be stopped by Kakashi who caught him tightly by the back of his jacket before wrapping his arms around the boy to restrain him.

"Stop! Don't be so reckless!"

"Why about you, Zabuza?! He was on your side, right?!" Naruto questioned angrily.

"Shut up kid. Haku's dead, it doesn't matter anymore." Zabuza stated bluntly, not seeing the fact that his partner was dead to be a problem at all.

"You really don't feel anything about what he did, about what he sacrificed?! You and Haku were together for YEARS?!" Naruto put emphasis on the word 'years'.

"You don't understand how the way of a Shinobi works, brat. I used Haku, just like how Gato used me. We ninja are just tools, weapons. It's over. The loss of his great strength and skill, yes, _that_ means something to me...the boy, nothing."

"Do you...Do you really mean that?! Cause if so, you're even worse than I thought you were!" Naruto exclaimed, only for Kakashi to put a hand on his shoulder.

"That's enough Naruto, he's not the enemy right now."

Naruto snapped and shoved Kakashi's hand off, pointing accusingly at Zabuza, "SHUT UP! AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED HE'S ENEMY NUMBER 1!"

Naruto took multiple deep breaths as Hinata, Kakashi, and even Zabuza looked at him.

"He...He really cared about you! He admired you! HAKU LIVED ONLY FOR YOU!" Naruto shot his body to Haku's corpse, and then back to Zabuza, the emotions flowing through him right now.

" _Do you have someone that's important to you?"_

"Haku admired you, you were the most important thing in the world to him!"

" _A person is able to become truly strong when they wish to protect someone they cherish."_

"And he was nothing?! He meant nothing to you at all?!"

" _It is difficult for me to become a pure ninja."_

"While he was sacrifice his humanity for you, his own life! He really meant nothing to you?!"

Hinata found tears already streaming down her face as she remembered Haku's words to her and Naruto, how the only thing he lived for was Zabuza.

"And if I become as strong as you, does that mean I'll end up as cold-hearted and ruthless as you are?! He gave up his life, he threw it away! And for what?! For you and your stupid dream!"

" _I want to make his dreams come true."_

" _That is my dream."_

" _I was happy."_

"And you just tossed him aside! Like he was just some tool! That's...just...wrong...SO WRONG!" Naruto couldn't hold it anymore, he broke down into tears, letting out sobs as he looked down, eyes closed and fists clenched to the point where his nails broke into his skin.

"You…" Zabuza ushered quietly, yet loudly enough for everyone to hear him, Naruto looked down at the ground to see water wettening, a small puddle of water on the ground.

And it wasn't raining, despite the multitude of clouds in the sky.

It was tears...Zabuza's tears.

"You talk too much...your words...they cut deep...deeper than any blade." Zabuza spoke as he looked at the sky, where Haku was most likely watching from. "While he fought, his heart was being torn apart...he was too soft and too kind for the life of a Shinobi. He felt pain and sorrow and curse him I feel them too! I'm glad...that this is how it ends, with you guys as our final opponents."

Zabuza breathed it and chomped on the paper mask, ripping it to shreds, revealing his lower face.

"Something wrong? Are you surprised to find that I'm even human? Even Shinobi are human, no matter how hard we try to escape that simple fact, we always fail. I...lose." Zabuza smile, before curving his lips into a deep frown. "Kid, hand me a kunai."

Naruto looked at the Demon out of confusion, before sighing out of defeat as he pulled out a kunai from his pouch, throwing it over to Zabuza, "Here…"

Time went slow for Zabuza as he remembered, remembered the little boy that he met all those years ago. How happy he looked when he told him that he had a purpose for the boy.

As he gripped the kunai handle with his teeth, he remembered these things, those feelings, during his final moments.

All of his time spending with Haku, he was denying one thing.

He was happy too…

* * *

 **Not Long Later**

There lied Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist.

In a crowd of Gato's men, the leader of which was now dead, thrown into the water by Zabuza, into hell…

It was symbolic, the man was thrown off the bridge, left to drown and die underwater...sinking deep, where the only destination for him, would be hell…

"Don't look away." Kakashi had said to Naruto, who closed his eyes and turned away from the sight, saying that it was the end of a man who lived desperately.

 _Did I...die…?_ Came the thoughts of Sasuke Uchiha, who was now beginning to wake, much to Hinata's relief.

"Sasuke-kun."

 _Hinata..._ Sasuke recognized the voice, of he could hear her voice, then that means she was dead, right? That's where he was, in the afterlife…

He opened his eyes to see Hinata with a smile on her face, her Byakugan deactivated with tears as the corners of her eyes just daring to fall.

"Thank goodness!" Hinata wheezed as she covered her face. "You were in a near death state, I was so worried though...I thought that you were actually going to die for a moment." And with that, Hinata broke down at the prospect of someone she now considered close to her dying right in front of her.

Despite Sasuke neglecting and remaining distant from her, she still cared for the Uchiha, she actually, sort of saw him as a friend thanks to their time in the same team, like Naruto, albeit she had a crush on Naruto, but that was beside the point.

To Sasuke, this was a surprise. Hinata Hyuga, crying for him, Sasuke Uchiha. Hinata, the same girl who seemed intimidated by him, the only girl in his class who wasn't a Sasuke fangirl.

As Sasuke trembled, struggling to sit up, he spoke, "What happened to Naruto...and the masked guy?"

"Naruto-kun's fine, Haku, the masked boy...he died…" Hinata looked off to the side, away from Sasuke.

If Sasuke wasn't startled at the fact that he was still alive, this got him alert and it made it seem like he wasn't tired at and hurt at all.

"Died?! Did Naruto kill him?!" Sasuke asked, his face contorted with mixed emotions. Surprise, at the chance that Naruto could have done such a thing to someone so strong, jealous, if he actually did kill him, and among other emotions, was a sliver of relief that the boy was actually alive.

"No, Haku jumped in front of Kakashi-sensei's attack in order to protect Zabuza. However, not long after you lost consciousness, an orange Chakra surfaced in Naruto, and he delivered a powerful punch to Haku, even destroying all of the mirrors Haku created merely from the shockwaves of the punch…" Hinata explained quietly, this information surprising the Uchiha.

"Orange Chakra? And he destroyed the prison, with a shockwave? His attack was that strong?!" Sasuke summarized out of disbelief, thinking that Hinata was exaggerating just because of her crush on Naruto in an attempt to make him grow respect for the blonde.

However, judging from the look on her face, she was serious, and Sasuke had never seen Hinata Hyuga ever make a joke before nor exaggerate things…

Although, he didn't interact with her in the Academy that much...he hardly ever noticed her actually…

Sasuke looked further down the bridge to see Naruto, standing there, with Kakashi, the corpse of Haku, the lying figure of Zabuza in the middle of a crowd of multiple men with weapons impaled into his back.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled, surprised that her voice could even reach that volume. The blonde turned around and saw the Uchiha rising to his feet.

He knew Hinata said that he was still alive, but seeing him standing right now was stil unbelievable...and it relieved him...to know that Sasuke was alive.

Tears sprouted in Naruto's eyes, and Sasuke took note of this.

 _He's...crying...both of them...were crying for me…_

Sasuke picked up Naruto mouthing the word "Bastard…" as he turned away, not wanting the Uchiha to see his tears.

Naruto then came to a realization as he looked Haku's corpse, the words of Zabuza replaying in his head.

" _While he fought, his heart was being torn apart...he was too kind and soft for the life of a Shinobi…"_

 _I see, so Sasuke is alive...I'm glad..._ Kakashi smile under his mask, closing his eyes, relieved that he didn't have to suffer the lost of a teammate (a student at that) like what happened to his old team.

The sound of a stick hitting the ground was heard as everyone directed their attention over to where Gato's army was.

"Don't think you guys are safe!" The man in front, holding Gato's stick, exclaimed.

"Damn ninja, you killed our source of revenue!" Another person in the crowd jeered.

"Now we have to attack the town and steal all the valuables." The army all cheered out of agreement.

"Kakashi-sensei, don't you have some cool technique that can take them all out?!" Naruto asked his sensei as Hinata and Sasuke inched closer p, ready for battle despite the fact that Sasuke was fatigued and Hinata was suffering strain from overusing the Byakugan.

"Get em!" The man with Gato's stick bellowed as the army charged, only to freeze when an arrow punctured into the ground in front of them. Hinata, Sasuke, Tazuna and the others looked to the other end of the bridge, which was connected to land.

There was a big crowd of the residents who lived in the village, and leading them was Inari, who held a crossbow in his hand, while everyone except Inari's mom, who was for some reason there, had some other sort of weapon in their hands.

"Anyone who gets any closer to this island will die facing the people of the island!" The crowd of people cheered, raising up their weapons in agreement as the man next to Inari and his mother shouted to the alive people of Gato's army.

"Inari!" Naruto grinned.

The boy smiled as he responded, "Heroes always arrive late!"

"Inari...all of you…" Tazuna found himself tearing up at the scene of his grandson and daughter standing among the residents of the island, standing up for themselves against Gato's army, ready to fight for their freedom.

"Alright!" Naruto lifted his hands, making a sign, "I'm gonna help out too, ya know! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

With his declaration, 4 more Naruto's appeared.

 _Oh well, I suppose I could use the same amount of Chakra and use it as a bluff…_ Kakashi thought to himself as he formed a hand sign, forming a bunch of Kakashi clones behind him.

"Now, shall we begin?" The Kakashi clones asked in unison as a means to intimidate the army, and it worked, as the next thing everybody knew, Gato's army were running back to their boat in a panic.

"ALRIGHT!" Inari cheered as the citizens of the island all cried out of joy, lifting their arms into the air out of triumph.

Kakashi silently walked over to the body of Zabuza, who was hanging onto his life by a thread.

"It looks like it's over." Kakashi said.

"Yeah…" Zabuza murmured, wincing from the pain in his back. "Kakashi...I have a favor to ask...I want...I want to see his face...one last time…"

Kakashi pulled down his headband, concealing his Sharingan eye, "Sure."

After removing all of the blades from his body, Kakashi picked up Zabuza's body and walked it over to Haku's corpse, and at that moment, it began to snow.

 _Haku...are you crying?_ Zabuza wondered.

As Kakashi put him down, Zabuza thanked him.

"You know it doesn't have to end like this, you might be able to live, and turn over a new leaf..." Kakashi whispered to the Demon with his back turned.

"Kakashi...you and I both know...that it's too late for me. I'm going to die. I'm going to accept my fate...both as a Shinobi...and as a human...just like Haku did." Zabuza responded as he turned his head to Haku.

"We've been together for all this time...so the least I can do is die next to you…" Zabuza spoke to the body of Haku, knowing very well that he wouldn't be able to hear him. "If possible...I want to go to the same place you're going to…" Zabuza mumbled as he brought his hand to Haku's face, stroking the side of his face gently.

Then, through the clouds, the sun bled through, shining on Haku's face, and the entire bridge for that matter.

He didn't know if he was imagining it or not, he was probably hallucinating it since he was about to die, but...he could have sworn that he saw a tear run down the boy's face...or maybe melted snow turning into water…or maybe it _was_ just a hallucination to Zabuza, as the life finally left his eyes.

"He...He said he was born into a village where it snowed a lot…" Naruto mumbled to Kakashi as tears streamed down his face, just like Hinata's.

"Is that a fact? Well...that boy was pure white...just like the snow." Kakashi replied calmly.

 _You can go there, Zabuza. Together..._

* * *

 **Later**

They had buried the bodies of Haku and Zabuza on a cliff, right next to each other, where the view was best. It was a view of the entire village, and it was a beautiful sight indeed. They had implanted Zabuza's sword Kubikiribocho (Executioner's Blade) at his grave.

"Kakashi-sensei...I was wondering…" Hinata spoke as she sat in front of the grave of Haku, "Does a ninja really have to be the way they said a ninja should be, a tool?"

"Shinobi are not supposed to find out their reason for existence. It's important that they exist as a tool." Kakashi answered, taking a pause before continuing, "That idea exists in Konoha as well, not just in Kirigakure."

"Does becoming a ninja really mean that?" Naruto asked his sensei. "I don't like that...at all!"

As Zabuza had stated before he went in to attack Gato's army with a kunai in his mouth, even Shinobi are human, no matter how much they denied it.

They were human deep down, and they cannot ever escape that simple fact of the world.

"Do you think that way also?" Sasuke enquired curiously.

"Well, no. That's why ninja unconsciously suffer from that idea, like Zabuza and that boy."

A long sea of silence followed that statement, before Naruto stood up fully, looking up at the sun, breaking the silence.

"Alright! I've decided, ya know! I'm going to follow my own nindo, my ninja way! I'm going to run straight down the path where I'm not going to regret anything!"

Kakashi widened his visible eye before eye smiling, once again getting reminded of the boy's determination in relation to Obito Uchiha.

Hinata smiled as she looked at the boy in the sun, and even Sasuke couldn't help but grin as well.

Shinobi just weren't tools, they are human also. And although they were taught to suppress their emotions, they shouldn't neglect them completely, as that's what makes them...human.

That is what Hinata learned. That, and...to always follow a dream. Live for someone important. And live for your dreams as well.

 _Haku-san, I will follow the path of the Shinobi. I'll be kind like you were, and I'll be a strong ninja! There is nothing wrong with doing something for someone important to you, someone you admire._ Hinata glanced at Haku's grave and back to Naruto.

 _I'll become strong! And I'll live for what is right! I won't back down, and I will be more confident in myself!_

 _That, is my vow to you…_

* * *

 **Days Later**

"We've completed the bridge thanks to you, but we're going to miss you." Tazuna spoke for the entire village.

"Be well." Tsunami wished Team 7 as they stood at the newly created gate to the bridge.

"Now, now, old man Tazuna, we'll visit you again one day." Naruto said with a grin.

Inari grimaced, trying not to cry, "Promise?"

Naruto gaped as he saw Inari holding back tears, and Tazuna patting him on the head didn't help much either.

Naruto's tears shined as he found tears of joy in his eyes, "Inari...You're going to get lonely, aren't you? You can cram ya know, cry…"

"I'm not going to cry! You can cry, too, Naruto!" Inari replied.

"Is that so…" Naruto whispered as he could feel the first drop rolling down, "Later…" Turning his back around, both he and Inari cried manly tears while Hinata giggled at the scene. "It's not funny, Hinata!"

"Oh, I-I'm sorry…" Hinata apologized as she suppressed even more giggling.

Tazuna merely watched as Team 7 began to walk down the bridge, beginning the road home.

"That boy changed Inari's heart and Inari changed the hearts of the villagers. That boy created a bridge, known as courage, which led to hope."

 _Bridge, oh shit! We have to name this bridge too!_

"I've got the perfect name for this bridge." Tazuna stated.

"What is it?" Tsunami asked her father.

"What do you think of, the Great Naruto Bridge?" Tazuna asked his daughter, who nodded her head out of approvement.

"That _is_ a good name." Tsunami admitted.

"Alright! Once I get home, I'm going to have Iruka-sensei treat me to ramen to celebrate the completion of this mission! Also, I'm going to make Konohamaru listen to my tale of bravery!" Naruto boldly stated, "Hey, Hinata, if you want, you can join me for some ramen when we get back instead of Iruka-sensei's treat!"

Hinata blushed at the offer. How could she decline, she was talking to her crush for Pete's sake.

"S-Sure."

"Can you two lovebirds shut up, I actually want to have a walk without a loud mouthed dobe blabbing his mouth off!" Sasuke retorted, much to the anger of Naruto as a tick mark formed on his head while Hinata blushed madly at her and Naruto being called lovebirds.

"Teme!" Naruto shouted as he ran up to Sasuke, the two of them bringing their faces close to each other as a lighting bolt formed in between the two, signifying the everlasting tension between the two Genin. It was unbelievable to think the they the both of them worked together in two instances. One against Zabuza, and once again when facing Haku. Yet here they weren't at each other's throats again.

"G-Guys…" Hinata tried to break the two up, still blushing madly, only for them to completely ignore her and continue arguing with each other.

Kakashi sighed, but he couldn't help but smile under his mask as he continued to listen to the bickering of his team.

Team 7.

The team that bore so many similarities to his own.

 _Is this how you felt when you taught our team, Minato-sensei?_

* * *

 **Alright, the Land of Waves are is done!**

 **Honestly, I could have skipped this arc completely, but come on, it's the Land of Waves arc!**

 **Now, as stated before, the next 2-3 chapters will focus on Team Kurenai, focusing from when they are assigned to their team, their test, and he'll maybe their first mission. (C-ranked mission, anyone? An actual C-ranked mission and not a cop out like Tazuna).**

 **Now, while this fanfic is called 'The Hyuga Factor', which highly implies only to the changes made to Hinata, I might make some of my own changes that won't relate to Hinata being in Team 7 at all.**

 **Gonna be completely honest, I couldn't think of a good name, and 'The Hyuga Factor' just seemed like a good name.**

 **With all that aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	8. The Formation of Team 8

Sakura Haruno was not happy.

Everything has been going horrible for her recently! First of all, that dumbass Naruto Uzumaki wouldn't stop annoying her! The angry churns she was feeling in her body yearned for her to smack someone in the face!

However, at the moment, that was not a wise decision. She and her team were currently walking with their sensei to go to...somewhere.

Sakura had wanted Sasuke Uchiha on her team. That's it. That's all she asked for! Just Sasuke Uchiha, with no other girls and ESPECIALLY NO NARUTO!

But the world wasn't fair that way now was it. Not only was she not put in a team with Sasuke, but HINATA HYUGA, the SAME girl who everyone barely notices, the SAME girl who Sakura is sure that she is the only person who doesn't like Sasuke in that class for some odd reason. The same person, got with Sasuke.

Which raises another question. Why the hell doesn't Hinata like Sasuke? Sure, it meant less competition for Sasuke, but it still confuzzled her on how a fellow girl could resist how charming (not) and cool Sasuke was.

Sasuke is, Sasuke! It's impossible to resist him! He has that cool attitude around him, that atmosphere! That little something that makes Sakura admire him!

Unfortunately, she had to share that something with every other girl in the class except Hinata.

It could have been worse, she had thought, as Hinata, didn't like Sasuke, as stated before. So unless she started to fall for him, she still had a chance. Hell, she would have been fine with any girl getting to be on a team with Sasuke as long as it WASN'T Ino!

But here she was, with her team and the Jonin sensei who called herself Kurenai Yuhi, a Genjutsu specialist. She took a moment to analyze her sensei.

She had a slender build, with long black untamed hair that went to her upper back. She had unique red eyes with an extra ring, if Sakura didn't know better, she would have thought that Kurenai had the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan.

But she knew that wasn't true.

Although Sakura may seem to not take her ninja studies seriously due to Sasuke, she wasn't like the other girls! In fact, as far as she was concerned, at least in terms of book smart, Sakura was the most intelligent in the class.

Every girl fawned over Sasuke, Sakura didn't even know or care much about most of the boys in her class. Naruto and Kiba were idiots and she still didn't care about them. She couldn't say anything about Shino, he honestly seemed like the smart type though. The only other two in the class who was closest in book smart was Hinata and Sasuke, with the Uchiha edging out the Hyuga to Sakura's understanding.

Oh yeah, back to Kurenai.

Her uniform consisted of a red mesh armor blouse (albeit only the right sleeve was visible), over that, she wore this white thing over most of her body that sort of resembled bandages. She noticed the thorn type pattern inscribed the white cloth.

She wore the regular sandals for a Shinobi, she also had bandages covering her upper thighs and arms, and, to Sakura's surprise, red lipstick and purple eye shadow.

Considering what Shinobi do, Sakura didn't think many kunoichi bore makeup, but apparently, this one did.

Sakura then stole a glance at her other two Genin teammates, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame.

The more she thought about, the more she realized that this team actually had 5 members, as Kiba had his ninken Akamaru to assist him in battle.

To her, Kiba was just a less stupid, more brash Naruto. Or maybe more stupid...she didn't know at this point, she was just pissed that she had to be with dog breath and bug boy.

Speaking of bug boy, Sakura hadn't interacted with Shino much in the past. He had always creeped her out due to his chilling and suppressed demeanor along with the fact that he was an Aburame, and Sakura hated bugs!

He was basically a more creepy, disgusting, and less charming version of Sasuke.

She dropped her head out of disappointment.

She was not going to last long in this team, was she?

"Alright, team!" The Jonin sensei Kurenai suddenly spoke, causing Sakura to jump in her place as she realized that she was sitting down on the ground like the rest of her team, except Kurenai, who was standing to represent the difference in authority between the four of them, five if you count Akamaru.

Sakura looked at their surroundings, they were in one of the Training Grounds, but she didn't know which one. It bore a resemblance to Training Ground 3, minus the lake, stumps, and memorial stone. But then again, most of the Training Grounds were like that.

"So, to get to know each other, we are going to be doing introductions. I'll keep going first to give you guys an idea of what to say." She said before clearing her throat.

"I am Kurenai Yuhi, your Jonin sensei for Team 8. My likes…"

At that point, Sakura began to tune out of the introductions as the words flew by her head, immediately thinking about Sasuke and who he got as a Jonin sensei, suddenly feeling resentment towards Hinata once again.

She had tuned out for so long, that she had never noticed when it was her turn, Kurenai had to call her name three times before she responded, much to the Jonin's frustration.

"Sorry sensei!" Sakura sat upright as she began, "My name is Sakura Haruno. My likes are…" Her mind immediately drifted off to Sasuke, "My hobbies are…" Sakura thought about Sasuke again, "And then, my dream is…" Thoughts about marrying Sasuke came to her mind before coming back to reality and giving a good answer, "Is to become a strong kunoichi!"

"And your dislikes?" Kurenai reminded the girl, rolling her eyes at her addiction over Sasuke.

"Annoying people like Naruto Uzumaki!"

* * *

In the Academy classroom, with Team 7, who were currently waiting for their sensei, Naruto suddenly sneezed.

"B-Bless you, Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered in a low voice.

"Thanks...haha! Someone must be talking about how great and strong I am!" Naruto gloated with a smile.

"Hn, dumbass..."

* * *

Back to Team 8, Kurenai closed her eyes as she took in the team she was working with.

She had WANTED a tracking team, composed of Kiba, Shino, AND Hinata Hyuga due to her Byakugan. However, Kakashi had insisted on taking Hinata, saying that due to Naruto being on the team, it should help with her confidence issues and something like with her Byakugan and Gentle Fist capabilities, Hinata will be able to alert Naruto and Sasuke of an enemy and work well with their fighting styles.

That still doesn't help the fact that Sakura has no TRACKING capabilities. But, Kurenai thought that she had a solution to the problem, that is, if these three passed the test. And even if they did pass, that was up to Sakura, if she wanted to learn…

"Ok, tomorrow morning, we are going to our first and maybe only activity together." Kurenai stated nonchalantly as if nothing was wrong with her statement at all.

"Alright!" Kiba cheered as Akamaru barked out of excitement before realizing the second part, "Wait, and maybe only? What do you mean by that?"

Kurenai nodded her head, "I'm glad you asked that Kiba. Now, as a Jonin sensei, before we can officially be called a team, I have to run you through a test, as a precautionary measure to make sure you're really ready to become ninja."

"Wait a minute, so you mean to tell me that the test at the Academy was a fake?!" Kiba exclaimed out of shock and anger.

"No. The test at the Academy was to see if you were ready to become a Genin. This test, is to see if you are ready to go out into the ninja world." Kurenai explained, "Oh, and if you fail this test, you will be sent back to the Academy."

"What?!" Sakura gasped out of shock.

 _ **CHA! We can't afford to fail this test, if we do, we'll be separated from Sasuke-kun forever!**_ Inner Sakura raged throughout Sakura's head.

Shino remained indifferent, showing no reaction or emotion at this news at all.

"Now, tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning, meet here at Training Ground 8." And with that information now imparted with the three, a sea of flower petals engulfed Kurenai, when they were gone, Kurenai was gone as well.

"What?" Kiba mused out of confusion, never seeing someone disappear like that before.

"It was Genjutsu." Shino spoke up, "She was hiding in the nearby forest the entire time. Why? Because-"

"That was such an easy Genjutsu!" Sakura cried out loud as she grabbed her hair. How didn't she catch?! Normally, she would be able to sense easy Genjutsu like this unless she was preoccupied or under pressure!

"Ignored again." Shino deadpanned, although he knew no one was paying attention. He then heard the rustling of feet, followed by the sounds of feet hitting the ground in a pattern, followed by the bark of a dog, then, one pair of feet began to quicken up the pace, eventually starting to run.

Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru had left him.

Shino himself soon left while Kurenai watched from a nearby tree.

 _Not bad._ Kurenai admitted at the Aburame seeing through the Genjutsu, _He knew it was a Genjutsu from the very start. Kiba will need some work, and Sakura...from the report on her academics, she was very prominent in Chakra control and judging from the fact that she had the highest grade in book smarts, she should be very adapt in a Genjutsu and should be able to tell what is a Genjutsu or not._

And Kurenai knew why she didn't see through it.

* * *

 **The Next Day**

"Ok, now that we are all here, we may begin." Kurenai said as she began to explain the test, "The objective, is for each of you to get good hit on me."

"That's it?" Kiba questioned, thinking the test to be much harder.

"That's it. Now, normally, I would do something else for a full team of sensors, but due to a last minute switch in teams, Sakura is now on this team, and Hinata Hyuga was thrown into Team 7." Kurenai told the group, much to Sakura's shock.

 _I was supposed to be on the same team as Sasuke-kun?! But I was switched with Hinata?! No doubt she used her status as heiress of the Hyuga Clan to force a switch in the teams so she could be with Sasuke! She faked not liking him all along!_ Sakura grit her teeth as she reached a conclusion, and was sure that was the case.

Why else would they switch the teams?

 _I need to get her back for this!_ Sakura thought to herself.

"The thing that will make this hard is that I will be hiding somewhere in the forest." Kurenai pointed to the vast amount of trees in the area. "I will also be using any means necessary to make sure you don't land a finger on me. And you should also use any means necessary to make sure you get a hit on me. And remember, all three of you each must hit me at least once! You have an hour to do so, if one of you can't hit me in that time, you fail."

"But how are we supposed to find you, sensei?" Sakura asked in a curious manner.

"The purpose of this exercise is for us to use our tracking skills. However, Sakura has no tracking capabilities." Shino talked in a neutral tone, once again not seeming concerned about the test at all.

"How you deal with your dilemma is your problem, Sakura. One of the things about being a Shinobi is learning how to problem solve." Kurenai informed the pink-haired girl.

But couldn't she help her just this once?! That was what Sakura was thinking.

It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair that the little princess got whatever team she wanted while Sakura got a team of a dumbass and a weirdo who don't compliment her skills at all.

They are like fire and ice, they don't go well together.

Sakura, as Shino had previously stated, had no feats in tracking unlike people from the Inuzuka, Aburame, or Hyuga Clans. So what was she supposed to do?!

If only that damn little Hyuga didn't interfere! She would have been a team that better complimented her skills as a kunoichi! She wouldn't be in this situation!

She would be on the same team as Sasuke...

"We'll have this done in 5 minutes!" Kiba boasted as Akamaru gave him a bark of support.

Kiba, the brash and cocky one out of the bunch. Seems to be the type to rush into battle without thinking things through. That could lead to some trouble at some point down the road.

"Highly unlikely, Kiba. Why? It's because she is a Jonin, and a Genjutsu specialist. She won't make this easy for us." Shino told Kiba.

"You overthink things way too much, Shino!" Kiba responded with an annoyed tone in his voice.

Shino, calm, collected, and calculated. One of the best kind of Shinobi to have in a group. Emotions won't get in his way, and he'll be very good at thinking out of tough situations.

And then…

Sakura, good Chakra control, great in book smarts. Not much seen when it comes to battle intelligence. Shown to be able to see through basic Genjutsu, and could be a very good specialist in Genjutsu like Kurenai herself.

"Now, without further ado, let's begin!"

Immediately, Kiba was on the move, Akamaru jumping off of his head as he ran towards Kurenai, beginning to spin wildly in the air at great speed, giving a drill like effect to those watching.

"Tsuuga (Passing Fang)!" Kiba shouted the name of his attack as he drilled right through Kurenai, only for him to not feel any solid connection as he kept drilling through, eventually coming to a Stop right before he could cut through a tree. "What?!" Kiba looked back in disbelief to see that Kurenai was slowly disappearing from the feet up, ending with her face.

"Yet another Genjutsu." Shino stated as he adjusted his glasses. "She did say she would use any means necessary to make sure we wouldn't be able to land a finger on her."

"Damn it! I'll just have to pick up her scent then!" Kiba exclaimed as Akamaru jumped onto his shoulder, clinging onto it tightly.

And with that, Kiba had jumped into the forest alone.

"Are you coming, Sakura?" Shino questioned the kunoichi as he approached the entrance to the forest.

"Fine." Sakura grumbled as she followed Shino into the forest.

* * *

 **With Kiba**

Kiba rushed through the lush leaves of the forest as he kept sniffing out for Kurenai's scent. He had spent about 10 minutes trying to so.

This was his means of tracking. The Inuzuka Clan's beast like attributes. And with Akamaru by his side, that means two noses trying to sniff out for Kurenai.

"Got it!" Kiba grinned as he ran towards the source, only to find that Akamaru had jumped off of his head, he immediately skidded to a halt. "Something wrong, Akamaru?"

The dog whimpered as he nudged his paw in the opposite direction Kiba was going.

"You smell her that way?"

A nod from Akamaru confirmed his suspicions.

"But how?! I smell over here!" Kiba argued as he pointed over in the direction he was originally running in, before coming to a small realization.

 _Is she using Genjutsu to replicate her scent? No, that can't be possible...can it?_

Suddenly, Kiba picked up Kurenai's scent once again, this time, in another direction. To his left, which, if he followed the path long enough, would bring him out of the Training Ground, and out of the forest.

Kurenai had said that she would be hiding _somewhere_ in the _forest_ , implying that Kurenai was not allowed to leave the forest much less the Training Ground.

He then picked up Kurenai's scent once again, this time to his right.

Kurenai was hiding behind a nearby tree, analyzing Kiba's movements, and it wasn't looking good for the Inuzuka.

Kurenai hadn't taken into consideration that Kiba wouldn't know how to bring down a Genjutsu. Heck, Kurenai wasn't even sure if Kiba even knew if he was in a Genjutsu, for all she knew, Kiba was probably thinking that Kurenai had dropped some of her things in the places he was picking up her scent.

This was the truth.

There were 5 scents of Kurenai.

Two of them were real, and three of them were mere illusions from the Genjutsu affecting Kiba's senses.

One of the two real scents was Kurenai herself, while the other one was a kunai that she had implanted in a tree not too far away from Kiba, this was actually the place he was heading towards originally, before Akamaru stopped him.

Kiba is too caught up with the three fake scents and the scent emitting off of the kunai that his senses are starting to play tricks on him, he couldn't even smell where the real Kurenai was. The only way he could was to dispel the Genjutsu, which is something he seems to be struggling with at the moment.

Eventually, after a couple of minutes, not too far away, Kurenai could hear the distant running footsteps of Sakura and Shino, only getting louder as they approached Kiba.

"You idiot! Running off on your own like that!" Sakura punched Kiba up the head hard, causing the boy to cry out of pain, and unknowingly knocking him out of the Genjutsu.

"OWW! What the hell was that for?!" Kiba spat out of anger, raising a fist at Sakura.

"If you didn't go on your own like a dumbass, I wouldn't have punched you!" Sakura yelled back with an equal amount of fury as Kiba.

Shino merely sighed as he ignored his teammates antics walking forward, placing his hand on the ground, feeling the blades of grass tickle his hand.

"Hijutsu: Muchiyose (Insect Summoning Jutsu)!" Sakura and Kiba stopped arguing as they looked down at their crouched teammate as he seemed to be concentrating on something.

"I know where she is." Shino announced, his eyes narrowing under his glasses as he could feel the gazes of his teammates fall on him.

 _Of course, one of the Aburame Clan's tracking techniques._ Sakura noted immediately, maybe Shino wasn't as weird as she thought.

Sakura reached down into her pouch and pulled out a kunai at the ready, unlike the other two, she wasn't part of a clan, and as a result, she wasn't entrusted with any special Jutsu like the one Shino has just utilized.

Despite this, she still had to try and be useful to the team!

Kurenai senses the three rushing at the tree she was hiding behind as she gave a small smile, _Although the formation is highly flawed, and despite only being appointed to the same team mere hours ago, they're actually trying to attack in a coordinated fashion. Not bad…_

From what she could sense, Kiba was in the middle, Sakura on the right, and Shino running to the left, albeit a tiny bit farther away from Kiba than Sakura was,

Due to the Inuzuka Clans abilities, Kurenai already knew what Kiba and Akamaru were going to do.

"Alright, Akamaru, lets go!" Akamaru ruffed out of agreement, jumping off of Kiba's head, running alongside him as Kiba, who was rushing ahead of a Shino and Sakura, formed a hand sign, "Juujin Bunshin!"

Akamaru transformed into a replica of Kiba, albeit more feral and wild, the difference between the two obvious, he ran four legged with Kiba as both of them began to spin the air, both of them quickly wrapping around the tree and shooting right for Kurenai.

"Gatsuuga (Fang Over Fang)!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes ahead of her, preparing herself to launch the kunai forward in case Kurenai had popped down on her side.

Shino on the other hand, had his hands outstretched, ready to unleash his insects in Kurenai should she come out on his side.

To the four's surprise, nothing that they had expected happened, Kiba had to quickly veer off to the right in order to fight hitting Akamaru by accident. Both stopped spinning, quickly trying to look for Kurenai's scent, picking her scent that was…

Above them?

They shot their heads up, only to widen their eyes out of shock, the loud whizzing of shuriken in front of them made the first reaction too obvious.

Move.

Both Sakura and Shino reacted quickly, seeing a person in their sights, unleashing their respective attacks, a kunai and multiple kikaichu.

Time ran slow as their blood ran cold at the sight of the person they launched their attacks at.

The grey furred jacket all but gave it away.

That wasn't Kurenai.

"KIBA!" Both Sakura and Shino shouted in unison, she heard Shino's voice, surprised to hear him speak that loudly, but immediately shrugged it off due to the severity of the situation.

Both Kiba and Akamaru turned their heads and saw their respective attacks coming in hot, a kunai and an army of kikaichu.

Kiba bent his up so his eyes were facing the sky blocked by trees as the sound of a kunai whizzed right past his chin, thankfully, not grazing him.

Akamaru didn't react as quickly, the dog was enveloped in the kikaichu. Had that been a real fight or Kurenai, it would have been perfect for Shino, but he had to command his kikaichu to not start sucking the Chakra out of Akamaru.

Shino had heard Sakura also yell Kiba's name, but they were too far away from the both Kiba replicas to tell the difference.

Secretly, in case the replica that Sakura had attacked didn't dodge in time, Shino had hoped that it was Kiba, as the wound that the Inuzuka would suffer from would not be as fatal as it would be to a dog.

Shino immediately retracted his insects, as the swarm of bugs seemingly crawled back into his sleeves, Shino took off running towards the Kiba in front of him, only to see a proof of smoke, revealing Akamaru, who came dashing towards him in a flash.

Kiba did the same on Sakura's side.

"What happened? Was it a Genjutsu?" Sakura questioned her teammate, she got surprised when she saw Kiba shake his head.

"No, when I looked up, she was standing on a tree chucking shuriken at us!" Kiba answered, his lips curving into a frown. "And you threw a kunai at me!"

"I thought you were Kurenai-sensei!" Sakura protested in her defense.

Kurenai listened in from her place on the tree, closing her eyes, letting out a long sigh.

Kiba and Sakura seem to have trouble getting along, while Shino is too quiet and reserved to even make much conversation with his teammates.

This could deal a lot of damage to the teamwork factor. Also, Sakura seems to have not figured out her role in the tracking team.

 _I suppose this is a little too hard for mere Genin. At the moment, I should be a little lenient on these 3, after all, that last minute change did mess up things for my team..._ Kurenai thought to herself, taking the moment to reveal herself. With great speed, Kurenai wrapped around the tree and jumped on Shino, throwing him backwards onto the ground.

Kurenai quickly flipped Shino's body around so his face was to the ground, pulling a kunai and holding it to his neck.

"Kiba, kill Sakura or I will slit Shino's throat!" Kurenai announced to the dog user, who froze in his tracks.

 _Sensei never said anything about killing people!_ Sakura widened her eyes, now actually a little spooked by this fact.

"Enough." Kurenai suddenly spoke as she removed the kunai off of Shino, getting off of him and rising to her feet.

"What? But it hasn't been an hour!" Kiba yelled out of anger, under the impression that Kurenai was going to fail them without even completing the exercise.

"I've seen enough of your capabilities." Kurenai spoke with her lips formed into a thin line.

"What about the fact that we needed to hit you three times?" Shino asked, rising to his feet.

Kurenai chuckled as if Shino said something funny, "I'm a Jonin. You would have to be promoted immediately if you could land even a single hit on me alone."

"Do we pass or fail?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Pass." She gave the team a smile while closing her eyes.

"Huh?!" Kiba droned with an open mouth.

"I said that you pass. However…" Kurenai's smile turned into a frown, "You guy could use a lot of improvement. Had it been someone else as your Jonin sensei, you would have failed. However, I see some potential in this group, and for a little bit, you guys worked together, whch was one of the main purposes of this exam, but there were still a lot of things wrong other than the formation and teamwork that need to be worked on, so I'll make you guys a deal. I'll let you pass, if you guys do well as a team and prove to me that you have what it takes to be real ninja, then I will finalize the formation of this team. If you can't, I'll disband the team and send you back to the Academy."

"HELL YEAH!" Kiba cheered loudly, causing Sakura to wince as he was right next to her, prompting her to smack him on the head.

"You're too loud!" Sakura scolded her teammate, as she really didn't want to deal with any stupid crap.

While she was happy that they were a team, she didn't forget what Kurenai had just said. Kiba was overreacting about this. As Kurenai had implied, just because they passed doesn't mean that they are in the clear.

"Our missions will start tomorrow. Be ready!" Kurenai's frown turned into a smile. She wasn't lying when she had said that she saw potential in this team.

Maybe she didn't see as much potential as she saw with the team originally due to the switch with Hinata and Sakura, but it was still there.

Kurenai took a glance at Sakura. She was going to need work, especially if she was going to be in a Tracking Squad rather than an Assault Squad.

She'll make sure that Sakura fits in.

And with that, Team 8 had left the forest, with relief and worry. Worry that they wouldn't be able to meet Kurenai's expectations and get sent back to the Academy.

Kiba was excited for the prospect of missions starting tomorrow.

Too bad he was going to hate when he felt the experience…

* * *

 **Alright, this is the start of the mini Team 8 arc. If you couldn't tell, we went back in time to when the teams were assigned and we will go from there.**

 **Now, this will definitely be the last chapter of the year, so I just wanted to say Happy New Years to all of you guys.**

 **Alright, that is all for now.**

 **Sorry that this is a really short chapter. If I make this mini arc 3 chapters, then the next two chapters will also be short as well. I might just finish this arc all in 1 chapter to make it longer.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed, take care, goodbye!**


	9. Team 8's C-Ranked Mission

A week had passed since the Genin test? Two weeks? Was it even a week at all? Sakura didn't know nor care at this point.

So, adding to the list of things weighing down on her conscious, there was:

Not getting on a team with Sasuke-kun.

Getting on a team with Dog Breath and Bug Boy.

Passing the Genin test basically because sensei felt bad…

Or at least, that's what Sakura has thought, as she really didn't see any potential with her team at all. It would be logical to put a Hyuga with the only two potent trackers in the class, but NOOOO, Ms. Perfect Hyuga had to always get her way!

And now she was walking with her team to get another torturous D-ranked mission.

Oh yeah, add that to the list of things weighing on Sakura's shoulders…

The damn D-ranked missions.

She had expected the life of a ninja to be more exciting and worthwhile, not just doing chores and working like dogs for hours on end. And it ESPECIALLY doesn't help that she has to be with Kiba, the guy whom Sakura is pretty sure smells the worst out of everyone she has met in her life.

Outside the Academy building, on the way to the Mission Assignment room, they ran into five people. The pink-haired Genin chose not to pay attention, but when she heard the familiar outgoing voice of Naruto Uzumaki, her features lightened significantly.

"YOOOOO! Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted with a wide grin on his face as he ran up to her, only to be pushed to the side as Sakura ran up to the other male Genin on the team…

"SASUKE-KUUUUUN!" Sakura cooed as she embraced Sasuke in a tight hug, much to his annoyance and discomfort, while Ms. Perfect Hyuga sweat-dropped along with Kakashi and whoever the old man with them was.

Sakura chose to ignore the smell of sake rubbing off of the acquaintance of Team 7.

Sasuke let out an annoyed grunt as he struggled to shove Sakura off of him, but the girl's hug was too tight.

"Now now Sakura, don't get so excited, we have to go get another mission." Kurenai reprimanded the pink-haired girl, a silk appearing on her face as she dropped her head, feeling her forehead hit Sasuke's shoulder lightly.

Finally, the Uchiha managed to get Sakura away from him.

"Sucks to be you guys!" Naruto stuck his tongue out, squinting his eyes tightly, "We're going on a C-ranked mission!"

Sakura then heard Hinata excuse herself, leaving the group and heading to who knows where. She had every instinct to go chase her and question her, but she couldn't do that with everyone else around, especially with two Jonin.

"A C-ranked mission? You?" A look of disbelief made its mark on Kiba's mug before boasting out in laughter. "HAHAHA! Don't pull my leg! A dead last like you getting a C-ranked mission, unbelievable!"

"Well you better believe it!" The blond Genin yelled as a response.

"Kurenai-sensei, why are they getting a C-ranked mission after about only a week of missions?" Shino turned to his sensei, "Fresh Genin should not be getting a C-ranked mission already. Why? It's because at least a couple weeks' worth of D-ranked missions is required to build team relations and to nurture one's skill."

Sakura shuddered at the mention of a couple weeks' worth of D-ranked missions.

"Well…" The man wearing a mask with his headband covering his left eye spoke, "After some persuading from our knucklehead ninja Naruto, the Hokage had no choice but to give us a C-ranked mission."

"My my, it looks like you've got a tough one on your hands, Kakashi." Kurenai joked with a smile, to which Kakashi merely eye-smiled before pulling out a book…

 _Icha Icha Paradise..._ Sakura read mentally, blushing madly while Kurenai gained an irritated look on her face.

"Kakashi! Put that damn book away!" The female Jonin commanded, as the sight of the book sickened her deeply.

 _This guy is a perv!_ Sakura thought to herself out of rage, looking around to see Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, and Shino with blank expressions on their faces, not giving a care in the world for the fact that Kakashi was reading adult content in public. Though, Sakura guessed that Naruto didn't even know it was something not to be read in public.

"Oh, sorry." Kakashi apologized nonchalantly, sounding like he didn't actually mean what he said.

Sakura scanned Kiba's face again to see him boiling with rage internally. She let out a small sigh, knowing what he was probably thinking right now.

'How did Naruto Uzumaki, the dead last of our class get a C-ranked mission before us?!'

Kiba jabbed a finger towards Naruto, "So? Just because you got a C-ranked mission doesn't mean you're anything special! You're still the dead last! The loser from our class in the Academy!"

"Do you want to repeat that again?!" Naruto inched closer to the other boy, a menacing look in his eyes.

"Kiba! Uzumaki! Control yourselves!" Kurenai demanded, prompting the two boys to shake their heads away from each other. Kurenai sighed, turning her head to Kakashi, "Well, we shouldn't keep you guys waiting then. Come on, Shino, Kiba, Sakura." And with that, Kurenai, Shino and Kiba began to walk towards the building.

"But Kurenai-sensei!" Sakura whined out loud, "I wanted to spend time with Sasuke-kun!"

 _Annoying._ The Uchiha thought to himself. It looks like he couldn't escape fangirls no matter how hard he tried. He could have sworn that for the past couple of weeks old fangirls from his class were stalking him, but it could have been his imagination. At the very least, Sasuke found Sakura to be the most bearable out of all his fangirls.

Of course, he wouldn't openly admit that. Saying something like that would get the girl's hopes up and make her even more annoying.

"Sakura!" Kurenai spoke in a threatening tone, getting impatient with Haruno's constant infatuation with the raven-haired boy. That was definitely something she was going to have to fix later.

"Yes, sensei!" Sakura obliged as she ran towards her team, "BYE, SASUKE-KUN!"

She had heard and ignored Naruto's loud farewell to her, but her mood fell when she heard nothing from her crush.

* * *

 **In the Mission Assignment Room**

"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THE TEAM WITH THE DEAD LAST ON IT GOT A C-RANKED MISSION BEFORE US?!" An angry Kiba bellowed rudely, prompting Kurenai to grab his ear and Sakura wanting to smack him on the head, as the Hokage was literally right in front of him along with other Chunin and Jonin.

Hiruzen let out a sigh. Not even ten minutes ago he had to deal with Naruto shouting about the D-ranked missions. And now, Kiba was doing the same AND complaining about how Naruto got a C-ranked mission.

Naruto and Kiba were actually similar in some ways when it came to personality, Sarutobi had found out after witnessing it first-hand.

Both were brash, impulsive, and never thought things through. Albeit Kiba was rasher and harsher than Naruto. If one didn't know better, they might have suspected that the two were really good friends.

Which was another thing, Hiruzen knew that Naruto had no friends and about his ostracization from the village. However, Hiruzen could clearly remember that Naruto had gotten along with at least three of his classmates.

Shikamaru Nara, Akimichi Choji, and Kiba Inuzuka.

But at some point, Hiruzen noticed that Kiba had started to see Naruto as a failure, and probably started to look down on him due to the Uzumaki's poor academics and ninja skills. Sarutobi knew that deep down inside though, Kiba harbored at least some bit of respect for Naruto.

"Please excuse the rudeness of my student." The voice of an apologetic Kurenai said after scolding Kiba about being rude while in the presence of the Hokage. Sarutobi also noted a bump on the brunette Genin's head along with him caressing the bump slowly, wincing as he did so. Sakura probably caused the bump.

"At ease." Hiruzen replied calmly, seeming to not be bothered at all, maybe even slightly amused. "You know, Naruto acted very similar to you not that while ago. Very well, if you really think that a C-ranked mission will be more your style, so be it. After all, the three of you are such promising Shinobi. Perhaps a C-ranked mission will be better suited to test your skills."

He couldn't help but smirk when he saw Kiba's face light up.

"ALRIGHT!" Kiba shouted to the ceiling, so loud that Sakura had to cover her ears.

A tic mark formed on her head, a signal of her losing her patience with her teammate.

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect, my team is not ready to take on a C-ranked mission. We still need more time to develop and get comfortable around each other." Kurenai spoke her part.

Hiruzen was already aware of the team's performance on the Genin test. After all, on the day of the tests he had the Jonin senseis report to him on who passed and failed.

"It will be fine, Kurenai. They have a Jonin sensei in the form of you on the team."

Despite the praise from the Hokage, Kurenai's worries did not ease that much. Shino, Kiba, and Sakura were just starting as a team. And Sakura hasn't really shown to be making an effort at being a ninja at the moment. In fact, even then, she doesn't really have a good place on the team. And Kurenai could only teach what she wanted to Sakura, if the girl was actually willing to be a real ninja and not a fangirl.

"Besides, I have the perfect mission for you. In fact, you will not be the only team on the mission." Hiruzen revealed to the team, much to their surprise.

Team 7 was going out for a different mission, so were they being put on a mission with Team 10, or some other Genin team they didn't know about?

The team, especially the Genin, would never have expected what would come out of Sarutobi's mouth next.

"It is a joint mission with a team from Sunagakure."

Kiba's lips parted as a confused expression covered his face. Why were they having a joint mission with Suna? How do they know nothing bad is going to happen on the mission? Can the team from Suna be trusted?

"I can sense your uneasiness, Kiba. Don't tell me you want to back out now?" The Hokage asked with a small smirk on his face, which was concealed as Sarutobi had his hands in front of his mouth.

"No way!" Kiba shot back with determination. Who cared if he was teaming with some people from Suna! They got a C-ranked mission, and he was ready to kick some ass!

"Now, let me explain the mission details. A group of bandits had somehow managed to steal some of the Fourth Kazekage's Gold Dust."

Hiruzen paused to let this sink in before continuing.

"Not long ago, the group entered the border of the Land of Fire, our territory. We have given the team from Suna permission to cross over to deal with their situation, and we have decided to send a team with them to assist and help stabilize our relationship with Suna." Hiruzen finished his explanation.

Sakura nodded her head, understanding what the point of the mission was. In order to make sure that Konoha has one less target on their back, the Hokage wants to form an alliance of sorts with the other nation. The team from Suna really only needed permission to cross the border into the Land of Fire, they really didn't need help with the bandits, this second act was just to improve relations.

"Now, I will let the team know that there has been a team who have accepted help and they will be right on their way. I recommend grabbing some last-minute things before heading out to the rendezvous point. Go as soon as you can." The Hokage commanded.

"Yes!" The team responded, all of them, even Kiba, taking a respectful bow to the leader of the village before exiting the room, going their separate ways to prepare for their mission.

* * *

 **Later**

"Hmph! These are the people who are going to be supporting us? They look like a liability!" A tick mark formed on Kiba's head as his brain absorbed the insult from one of the people on the team from Suna they were now facing.

The Hokage had given Kurenai the area for the rendezvous point. It was some secluded area in the forest. Apparently, the group of bandits had taken camp somewhere close by the area.

As expected, the Suna team they met up with consisted of four people. Three Genin, presumably, and a Jonin sensei.

Sakura couldn't help but stare aimlessly at one in particular out of the four.

The team looked like the average Genin team.

The tallest one out of the four was a man. He had distinct markings on the right side of his face. Albeit he might have had the same markings on the other side of his face but there was a sheet hanging down from his head, covering the left side of his face.

One of the two shorter men wore a completely black, baggy bodysuit while wearing a black hood with cat ears to cover his hair. He had purple face paint markings plastered on different parts of his face. The Sunagakure forehead protector was on his forehead over his hood. Oddly enough, he had something strapped to his back covered in bandages.

The person next to him, being the only female on the team, had blonde hair, sporting a single light purple-colored garment cutting off at her shoulders and extending halfway down her thighs. She had a scarlet sash tied around her waist and had fishnet worn over her shoulders, upper body, her right calf, and her left thigh. Unlike the black-clothed person, this girl lumbered around a big fan. Finally, similar to how Hinata worn hers, this girl had her forehead protector around her neck.

Finally, the last one of the group, standing in front of them all with an emotionless expression on his face and a cool and mysterious demeanor, with a hint of malice flowing around him, was a boy with spiky auburn hair.

This boy had green eyes and oddly enough, dark rings around them to which Sakura could only associate with insomnia, meaning that for some reason, this boy had trouble sleeping. But why? From what she was taught at the Academy along with having common sense, a ninja should get a good amount of sleep, so they remain alert and vigilant.

Also, to Sakura's horror, the boy didn't have EYEBROWS!

Sakura also noted that he wore a very long and wide leather band, with which he uses to carry a big gourd on his back. Due to the color of the gourd and along with the fact that the team comes from Suna, she assumed that the gourd had sand in it.

"Care to say that again, cat ears?!" Kiba grinned at the insult he cooked up with his little brain, which also caused a tick mark to appear on the black clothed man's head.

"Cat ears?! Do you wanna go, little man?"

"Enough, Kankuro! Focus on the mission and stop messing around!" The only female of the Suna team scolded the man with the cat ears, now known as Kankuro.

Said man let out a sigh, "Alright, if you say so, Temari."

The tallest of the group walked forward, his gaze set on Kurenai in particular.

"Excuse Kankuro's rudeness." The man apologized with a slight bow as he introduced himself to Team 8, "I am Baki, the Jonin sensei of Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara."

Gaara was the quiet, stale one with the rings around his eyes, Shino noted. He couldn't help but feel like something was wrong with Gaara.

"Pleased to be of your acquaintance." Kurenai replied with an equal amount of respect, "I am Kurenai Yuhi, the Jonin sensei of Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka." As she said each name, she pointed to each of her Genin.

"So why is this Gold Dust so important to retrieve anyway?" Sakura asked curiously, making sure to keep her cool and to be polite, especially in front of ninjas from another village.

"Other than being a very powerful tool when it comes to battle, it is also very valuable in trade. Once, when Suna was facing economic issues, the Gold Dust was used in trade to support our village." Baki explained patiently.

That confused Shino.

"Why does it matter if some bandits took some Gold Dust? It should not make much of a difference. That's because you should have a large quantity of Gold Dust in your village."

"Like all other resources that us humans use, Gold Dust is limited. It is not easy to produce and, should Sunagakure fall into an economic depression once again, we will have to rely on Gold Dust to pick us up from that depression. In fact, our village is suffering right now, and we may have to use the Gold Dust yet again. And judging from the state of our village, we will need a lot of it." Baki said, directing his attention away from the Genin.

"Can we just get on with the mission already?"

All three members of Team 8 froze up when they heard the calm voice. It was so small that any normal person would have shrugged it off, but they could definitely feel a lust for blood oozing out of Gaara's voice.

Kiba and Akamaru began to quiver in their place, with Akamaru trembling uncontrollably and whimpering. Unlike the others, both could literally smell the bloodlust emitting off of Gaara. It was a sign. They couldn't mess around anymore. And also, that they better stay on the good side of this guy.

Kurenai glanced at her team before looking back at Gaara, seeming unphased by his bloodlust, but internally shocked that someone at his age could show some just from the tone of his voice.

Hmph, there is no need for reinforcements. Temari thought to herself with a smirk on her face, After all, Gaara…

Baki cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of everyone present, "Alright! As you should know, the enemies have set up camp not far from here. From the looks of it, multiple gangs of bandits formed up into one gang, so give or take there are more than thirty of them. However, I wasn't able to confirm an official number."

Over thirty scents would certainly be too much for Kiba to focus on, so Shino was the perfect person for the job.

The Aburame knew this, so he willingly took a step forward. "With the utilization of my kikaichu and the insects in the surrounding area, I can easily check how many people there are."

Baki nodded his head as the group began to run in the direction of the enemy camp.

Kurenai once again turned her gaze at Baki, who was leading the group and the one in front, with his team not falling behind, followed by the female Jonin herself and, of course, the rest of Team 8 trailing behind her.

Something wasn't right here, Kurenai knew that much. How could a bunch of bandits just sneak into a major village like Suna and take something that is precious like Gold Dust? She knew that the village was struggling...but was it really that bad?

Even at the stage it was in, bandits should still have little chance of successfully robbing the village. But here they were. The female sensei decided to keep these worries with caution and to proceed carefully.

Eventually, after a minute of jumping and running through trees, the group came to a stop. They had reached the location of the enemy. Kurenai gave Shino a nod, giving him consent to do his job.

He got down to his knees, putting his ear on the ground as Kiba and Sakura looked at him out of confusion. Meanwhile, Kurenai and the team from Suna looked at the insect user with neutral expressions. In fact, Gaara wasn't even paying any attention.

He had a blank look on his face, void of any emotion whatsoever.

"There are forty enemies in total."

Kiba felt Akamaru's trembling quicken at an astronomical rate. And he felt it too. When Shino revealed how many enemies there were, he could practically smell the lust for blood from Gaara rising. If the Inuzuka could see the look on the auburn-haired boy's face, then it was probably a grin of sadism.

"They're just bandits! This shouldn't be that hard!" Kankuro let out a smirk.

Baki drifted his attention to the direction of the enemies, "As there are forty enemies, the Genin on Kurenai's team will take three each, due to the fact that they are fresh Genin. Kurenai will take on seven bandits, while the rest of us will take on six each."

Kurenai narrowed her eyes when she heard the last part. Each member of the Suna team was going to take on six Shinobi? Are the Genin on the team even powerful enough of such a feat?

She turned to her team, "The three of you remember, this isn't a game. Even if these are merely bandits, you are merely fresh Genin. Letting your guard down can lead to a fatal injury. Stick together, and don't worry, I will be looking out for you."

Sakura's worries eased after hearing that. What did she have to be worried about? There were two Jonin in this team, and three of the Genin on the team seem to have quite a bit of experience. Even if she, Shino, and Kiba were the underdogs, nothing should happen to them!

"Come on Akamaru, you need to stop acting scared." Kiba told his ninken, who was still shivering in place out of absolute fear. Despite this, the pup obeyed and jumped off his owner's head. Kiba formed a hand sign, "Juujin Bunshin!" With a poof of smoke, a more feral replica of himself appeared in Akamaru's place.

Kankuro looked at the dog user with an amused look on his face, interested to see what the kid could do.

"Come on! Let's go!" The young Genin shouted, jumping out of their hiding spot and into the enemy's campsite, setting his sights on two bandits who were talking to one another, only for them to look up in shock after hearing Kiba's voice.

 _That idiot blew our cover!_ Sakura thought to herself out frustration as she saw the others jump out of the hiding spot as well. With no other choice, the pink-haired Genin did the same.

"Gatsuuga (Fang Over Fang)!" Kiba yelled out the name of his attack as he and Akamaru began to spin rapidly in the air, their bodies turning into blurs before appearing like spinning vortexes.

They managed to nail one of the bandits in the stomach, but to their surprise, the other one leapt out of the way like a ninja would.

The duo rebounded, ending the attack, turning around their bodies and skidding across the ground.

The bandit who was now in the air was glaring at the two, with his cheeks puffed out as if he was just about to exhale. He did exhale, and when he did, a stream of fire erupted from his mouth towards the duo.

The fire was coming so fast that Kiba and Akamaru thought it was the end for them. Fortunately, Kurenai came just in time, pushing both of them out of the way as the stream whizzed by, eventually dissipating.

"Are you okay, Kiba?" Kurenai asked with her attention focused on the oncoming bandits. The young Genin made a sound of confirmation. "I told you that brash recklessness was a liability! You need to think things through!" Kurenai lectured her student, pulling out a kunai, slashing an approaching bandit across the chest before kicking him in the stomach, causing him to roll onto the ground, unconscious.

She turned her head to see the bandit, who fired the stream of fire, dashing at her with extraordinary speed.

 _How can a bandit move so fast and use ninjutsu so proficiently?! That would explain how they would be able to sneak into Suna! Some of these guys aren't bandits at all!_ The brunette kunoichi noted as she caught a punch from the oncoming opponent, throwing him at another bandit, knocking both of them out.

"Kiba! Get back together with Shino and Sakura!" Kurenai commanded and said boy had no choice but to obey as he rose to his feet, running to his teammates who were currently fighting off their own bandits.

The sensei watched Kiba, making sure no one was going to attack him when she sensed someone behind her. She jumped upwards with a burst of chakra, seeing a spear thrust to where she originally was.

The Konoha Jonin landed on top of her attacker, using her feet to push him down to the ground, lying on his back before delivering a punch to his face, knocking him out cold.

Kurenai then found herself surrounded by three bandits, two of whom were forming hand signs at an incredible speed, one took a deep breath while the other shoved his hands to the ground.

"Katon: Karyuudan (Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bomb)!"

"Doton: Doryuuheki (Earth Style: Mud Wall)!"

A wall from the earth erupted from the ground, restricting Kurenai's options of escape while a stream of fire flew out of the other bandit's mouth, heading straight for the female Jonin.

She leapt into the air, only for the remaining bandit to do the same. Much to her surprise, she felt a punch graze her hair as she moved her head to the side, chucking her tightly gripped kunai at the bandit who breathed fire, striking his shoulder and causing him to cry out in pain.

Blood began to pour out of his wound as he clutched his shoulder.

Kurenai quickly redirected her attention to the one in front of her, grabbing his arm with both hands and throwing his body right into the earth-created wall, taking him out of the fight.

The ninja who initiated the Doton Jutsu leapt up on the air, kunai in hand, ready to throw it and critically injure Kurenai. However, when he scanned the area for her, she wasn't there. He landed on his earth structure before jumping down to the ground.

Suddenly, he found some weird brown things which looked like the branches of a tree wrapping around his entire body, restricting his movements. He then heard the voice of Kurenai saying, "I got you right where I want you." while a tree grew behind him.

Kurenai then sprouted out of the tree above him, kunai in her hand held towards the enemy's neck.

The female Jonin knew that this guy wasn't going to answer any of her questions. So, the best thing to do was to just kill him so he doesn't become a problem later. Besides, she could just take the other person who he she injured with her kunai.

She slit the ninja's throat, killing him with the tree disappearing and him collapsing to the ground. She turned her attention to the last one, who was still grimacing, gritting his teeth as he glared at her when she started approaching him.

He pulled the kunai out of his shoulder, putting in the hand connected to his good shoulder, swiping it at Kurenai, who responded by holding up her right hand that a kunai grill tightly inside.

 _CLANG!_

The sound of two kunai smashing against each other was heard, with a continuous grinding sound following that, as Kurenai slipped under the ninja's arm, moving her arm so that her opponent's arm whizzed right over her.

And then a punch to the cheek finished her batch of enemies.

The brunette kunoichi sighed out of frustration. This was going to take a lot of explaining to the Hokage when her team gets back.

Speaking of which, Kurenai turned her head to see how her team was doing. To her horror…

She saw Kiba crouched over with a pained expression on his face along with blood dripping cuts on his body, holding something white in his hands.

* * *

 **Earlier**

"Gatsuuga!" Kiba used the move again in conjunction with Akamaru, taking out a bandit who was face to face with Shino. He came to a halt right next to the Aburame, with Akamaru in tow as Sakura leapt backwards to reunite with her teammates, sweat pouring down her face due to the intensity of the situation and her current lack of stamina.

"We need to work as a team." Shino stated calmly despite now being surrounded by multiple bandits.

"I hate to admit it, but you're right." Kiba admitted with a sigh, "So, what's the plan?"

"I currently have my insects making their move." The bug user spoke quietly so the people surrounding them couldn't hear, "They are surrounding them as we speak. Until then, we will need to hold them off."

There are seven of them against the three of us...can we really do it? The jade-eyed girl began to tremble in place, fearful for what would happen. We're just kids! We're only fresh Genin! Why would they want to kill us?

Sakura glanced at her pears in sheer amazement. How could they be so calm about this? Even in a situation like this where we could die...how can they do this?!

If this was how a C-ranked mission was, then how hard was a B-ranked mission, or an A-ranked mission, or even worse...an S-ranked mission.

I can't do this! I can't… The exhausted girl shut her eyes, hoping that when she would open them, that it was all just a dream. Too bad she knew that it wasn't the case.

"Sakura. I can feel that you are troubled. Don't worry, we will be fine. It's because Kurenai-sensei said that she would protect us." Shino tried his best to comfort Sakura, all the while keeping his attention to the people around them.

Sakura nodded her head, but Shino has his back turned, so he did not see it.

Kiba punched his open palm with a fist, "Alright! Team 8, let's do this! Come on, Akamaru!" Said pup, who was transformed into Kiba, gave a growl of acknowledgement as he ran in front of his owner, going after the person in front of him. Eventually turning into a spinning vortex spiralling right for the bandit.

Sakura whipped out a kunai and rushed alongside her energetic teammate. The bandit, to their surprise, jumped to the side in front of Sakura, who froze momentarily at the prospect of killing someone. After a bit of doubt, she threw the kunai and kept on running towards the guy in front of her.

The bandit merely pulled out his own kunai and smacked Sakura's kunai away as if it was trash. He glanced to the right to see Kiba throwing a punch at him, followed by a swarm of insects from Shino coming from above.

He leaned backwards, dug his fingers into Kiba's extended arm causing him to let out a howl. The bandit heaved him into the air, before jumping himself and kicking the brunette Genin hard in the side with a kick, throwing the boy towards Sakura, who didn't react fast enough, and as a result, was thrown back as well with Kiba's body on top of hers.

At this moment, the other bandits began to rush as well. Two of them went for Shino while the other four went for the other two Genin.

Kiba and Sakura recovered, with the former immediately using Tsuuga (Passing Fang) to bulldoze into one of the bandits, knocking him out immediately.

Sakura gasped as she ducked under a swipe from a spear coming from another bandit. She felt her feet leave the ground and her mouth opened to release a yelp of surprise as she felt her back hit the cruel ground.

She rolled to the right to avoid a strike that would have stabbed her heart if she hadn't moved. Sakura returned the favor brought to her by performing a sweep kick on her attacker, flipping him off his feet and dropping him to the ground.

Sakura quickly stood up, only to have one of the bandits hit her head hard with a wooden staff. She let out a cry, clutching her head as she crouched to her feet.

Meanwhile, Shino dodged oncoming attacks from the two bandits with relative ease. He sidestepped a jab from a spear and grabbed onto the weapon. He heaved and lifted up his arms, bringing the spear to his backside with great strength, causing the bandit holding the spear to be flipped over Shino's body, hitting the ground hard, losing consciousness in a second.

Shino thrusted his hands out, allowing his bugs to swarm out and assault his final opponent. The bandit used his spear to cut through the wall of insects, but Shino, with great speed, appeared behind him and delivered a chop to his neck, knocking him out cold.

"Shino, help!"

Said boy's ears perked up at the sound of Sakura's voice. He turned in the direction of the girl to see her struggling against her three attackers while Kiba was getting thrashed around by the remaining bandit himself, unable to help her.

What intrigued Shino in that moment was that the bandit was using chakra to his advantage. Normally, bandits like these don't know how to control their chakra. So, were some of these bandits actually ninjas in disguise? If so, then from what village? It couldn't be Suna or Konoha, unless Suna actually planned this mission to kill the Konoha Genin, but he couldn't see it. Killing ninja from Konoha right now would put Suna in a worse position than it already is.

The Aburame snapped himself out of his quick thoughts and rushed to help Sakura, picking up on the spear of one of the bandits along the way. Sakura, meanwhile, managed to deliver a powerful kick to the groin of one of the bandits, followed by a hard uppercut to the chin to knock him out.

As he ran, Shino noticed that the jade-eyed Genin seemed to be distracted still. Was she shocked about how she was thrown into a fight like this? Was she scared that the life and job of a ninja was much worse than this? Shino didn't know, and at the moment, all he cared about was helping his teammate.

"Sakura!" He called out the girl's name out. He caught her glance for just a moment before chucking the spear in his hand toward the girl.

Sakura reached out her hand and clutched the spear before dodging another strike from the sharp spear that one of the bandits were using. She let out a small cry of pain as she felt the spear nick her cheek, drawing blood from her now open cut.

She gripped the spear she now had with both hands and thrusted it forward, clashing with the bandit with the wooden staff, then leapt backwards, flipping the spear over and shoving the sharp end into the ground.

Sakura jumped into the air and spun around the spear, using it like a pole, kicking her legs out to strike her two enemies. She managed to kick both of them hard in the face as she swung around her spear.

They were knocked backwards, blood spewing from their noses as they didn't make a single sound or any sign of movement.

Sakura turned her attention to Shino, giving him a thankful look before hearing a yell from Kiba. It wasn't out of pain, it sounded like one of worry. The thing that followed next made the two teammates arrive at the speed of light.

"AKAMARU!"

Shino and Sakura dashed over to Kiba, who was on the ground holding out his hand. Sakura helped him up as they saw their last opponent repeatedly kicking Akamaru in the stomach. The pup had long since poofed out of his transformation of Kiba, and he was now letting out loud whimpers and wails.

"Damn it!" Kiba cursed himself for being so weak. Akamaru and him were the kind of pair that if separated, they were almost useless on their own. "GET AWAY FROM HIM, YOU BASTARD!"

Kiba began to storm off towards the bandit/ninja who kept kicking Akamaru, leaping into the air with his leg cocked back, ready to deliver a strong kick.

The ninja merely smirked out of amusement, ducking down to avoid the attacking boy's flying roundhouse kick. He held up his arms and grabbed Kiba by the feet, bringing his arms down and slamming his body into the ground. The young Genin's body bounced up a little as his head jerked up, blood started to escape his mouth as the boy started to lose consciousness.

"Kiba!" Sakura found herself shrieking the name of her teammate out of concern, worried that someone she has known and been in a class with was actually going to die in front of her eyes. The mere idea of it all never bothered her before, but now the fear of having someone you know die came at her full force.

This was evident from the tears that began to form in Sakura's eyes as she witnessed the ninja pull out a kunai, pulling Kiba's head up so he could slit his throat with it…

Which was his plan if he didn't find himself encased by walls of insects, courtesy of the Aburame boy. Another wall of insects erupted from the ground, carrying Kiba and launching his body over to Sakura and Shino, the former grabbing his body, dropping to the ground on her bottom as she did so.

"What the hell is this?!" The ninja exclaimed out of shock as the insects began to crawl up his body, suddenly feeling his energy being drained.

"My kikaichu. As long as they are on your body, they will continue to suck out your chakra. And by the amount of my insects on your body right now, I'd say it won't be long until you are sucked dry.

"You little...I swear, when I get my hands on you I will-"

"Unfortunately for you, I cannot allow any more stalling. Doing so would endanger the lives of my comrades." Shino said, appearing behind the ninja, hitting him hard on the head, taking out the last enemy the Genin of Team 8 had to face.

At this moment, Kiba regained consciousness thanks to Sakura calling out his name. Immediately, the boy staggered to his feet and stumbled over to Akamaru's unconscious and beaten body.

He dropped to his knees, his eyes widening and pupils shrinking out of horror. His vision blurred as he found liquid now in his eyes. He reached out his hands and picked up Akamaru's stiff body, bringing him to his lap as he hugged the body of his partner.

It was this sight that Kurenai saw. The sight of Kiba despairing over his companion.

 _So this...is what the life of a Shinobi is like..._ Sakura thought to herself, a sad look on her face as she saw tears streaming down Kiba's face, This is what is at stake. The lives of people forced into fights...the lives of friends...loved ones…

Now, in the back of her mind, she worried for Team 7, who were also on a C-ranked mission.

"What happened?" The worried voice of Kurenai came rushing to the scene with the body of an unconscious bandit in tow. Although she was relieved that her team was alive, she was more concerned about the body of Akamaru cradled in Kiba's hands.

"Akamaru was beaten badly…" Was all that Shino said before going dead silent. Although he didn't show it, he felt bad for Kiba.

The female Jonin walked over and crouched down, slowly taking Akamaru away from her student, to which the boy didn't even react to. Kurenai checked the pup's pulse, looking for any sign of him being alive.

…

…

…

At Kurenai's sigh, Kiba feared the worst…

"Well, he's hurt pretty badly, and he won't be able to go on missions for a bit...but he's alive." The crimson-eyed kunoichi informed the team with a small smile on her face.

Kiba's face lit up with relief as he mouthed the words 'Thank goodness'.

It was at that moment that the Shinobi from Suna arrived, with the exception of one of them, having defeated their enemies already.

"What happened here?" Baki asked, getting straight to the point, with barely any hint of remorse or concern at all for what was clearly right in front of him.

"Kiba's ninken Akamaru got injured. He'll live, but he won't be coming out for missions for a bit." Kurenai stated bluntly.

"I see…" Baki mumbled under his breath, turning away, paying the pup no heed at all.

"Where's that Gaara guy?" Sakura enquired, noticing that the auburn-haired Shinobi was the only one out of the Suna Shinobi that wasn't there.

The Shinobi from Sunagakure turned their heads to the direction where they came from. The Konoha Shinobi looked in the same direction, where they saw Gaara, surrounded by his 6 bandits.

He was just standing there, arms crossed, eyes closed, no sign of panicking, no sign of fear, no sign of anything really. In fact, if there was an expression on his face, it was one of either boredom or disappointment.

"How boring." The cold voice of Gaara droned, opening his eyes as the bandits surrounding all attacked again at once, only for sand to burst out of his gourd to come to his defense, blocking all six attacks. "Your blood won't suffice for Mother's hunger...but it shall do for now."

He made a sign with his hands, connecting every finger except the pinky, he then shot both of his hands forward, "Sabaku Kyuu (Sand Coffin)!"

Upon the declaration of his technique, sand wrapped around and ensured two of the bandits' bodies, much to their surprise and horror. The other bandits froze as they looked at their two immobile comrades.

The sand wrapped around them completely, to the point where only their face could be seen.

Now Sakura was starting to get scared, along with Shino and Kiba, while Kurenai looked on in shock. They all could feel the massive killing intent that Gaara was releasing. To the three Genin of Team 8, it was suffocating, and it made them too sick to their stomach.

"What's he going to do to them?" Sakura asked the Suna Shinobi out loud, noticing that they had blank expressions on their face as if Gaara's massive killing intent was a normal thing.

Temari raised an eyebrow at Sakura and gave her a look like she had two heads, "What's he going to do? What else, kill them."

The other girl gasped out of shock, not only at what Temari said Gaara would do, it was how casually that she said it.

"Whatever you're going to do, please don't do it!" One of the bandits ensnared in Gaara's sand pleaded while the other one began to scream uncontrollably.

The cold-hearted Genin moved his arms upward, and as he did, the two bandits ensnared in sand rose up into the air. A neutral expression was on the auburn-haired boy's face as he did this.

"It's time...for Mother to have your blood…" Gaara muttered under his breath as he closed both of his hands into fists, "Sabaku Soso (Sand Burial)!"

 _BOOM!_

The sound of bodies being imploded and crushed along with the sight of the blood of the now dead bandits being splattered on the ground would forever change Sakura, Shino, and Kiba.

No, correction.

This entire experience would change them forever.

* * *

The mission was a success... thankfully. The Suna Shinobi managed to retrieve their damn Gold Dust.

After Gaara killed the two bandits the other four tried to run away…

They didn't run fast enough.

Leaving the area and separating from the Suna Shinobi would have made Kiba feel very relieved…

That is...if Akamaru didn't get hurt on the mission.

They got him to a hospital, where he was treated. He recovered, but Kurenai recommends not having him undergo any vigorous activity for a bit. Probably a week or two at best, so it wasn't terrible.

But still...it could have been much worse.

As his owner, his partner, his friend, Kiba berated himself for not being able to protect Akamaru.

He felt weak, useless, while he was stuck lying on the ground, watching his ninken get beaten ruthlessly.

And it was because of him. Kiba, the one who is supposed to be Akamaru's trusted comrade. It was all his fault.

If he hadn't got worked up over Team 7 getting a C-ranked mission, they wouldn't have gotten one, and Akamaru wouldn't have ended up like he did.

And then there was a true, real fact.

The Shinobi world was dangerous. There was no room for games.

Akamaru was Kiba's best friend. He will never let him die or get hurt like that again.

And that goes for his teammates as well. He will not let them get hurt or killed by the Shinobi world. He will be there to protect them.

Even if it means getting himself killed…

If Kurenai were to make a list of things that she has failed at, this would be one of the things at the top of the list.

The inability to protect her students.

She had promised them that nothing bad would happen, and she went against that promise. She didn't help her students, and Akamaru could have died.

When going back to tell the Hokage about the mission in private, Kurenai mentioned how there seemed to be actual ninjas among the bandits.

Albeit, they weren't that strong and even her students, who were fresh Genin and didn't have much experience, were able to dispatch of them.

Still, there were ninjas in the group, and that raises suspicion. She turned the so-called bandit over to the T&I Force. Hopefully, they could get some answers out of the captured enemy.

But then again, it was pretty much guaranteed as Ibiki did his job damn well…

Better than how Kurenai could ever hope to be as a Jonin sensei.

Still, in the end, everyone survived, and that's all that mattered, right?

…

Wrong.

* * *

She couldn't do this anymore! She couldn't be a ninja! Sakura Haruno was never cut out to be a ninja!

She only went on because of Sasuke-kun.

She was so useless! Akamaru was in trouble and she couldn't do anything about it. He could have died…

And it was all because of her incompetence.

Come to think of it, her only goal as a ninja was to get closer to the raven-haired boy. There didn't seem to be any other reason.

All this time, and Sakura never noticed. How blind she must be in others' eyes.

"Alright everyone. Time to go home and rest up. Since we had an... interesting experience, I'll give you guys the next week off." Kurenai said as Sakura found herself back to reality.

She found her other two teammates leaving, probably to mope about the mission on their own.

They looked so disappointed on the way back. And mad.

Probably at her.

She failed. If she was only stronger, then Akamaru wouldn't have gotten hurt!

If only she was stronger…

A light bulb lit up in Sakura's head as her eyes filled with new found determination.

That's it. She would get stronger. Even if she didn't like the life of a shinobi, she will continue. Not to merely chase after her crush.

To protect her comrades.

Sure, she still had feelings for the Uchiha boy, but she couldn't let that get in her way. Rather, she should consider him as her wall. The wall she needs to climb over!

That's what she'll do. She'll show him she's not just a fangirl. She'll show that she can be strong too if she put work into it.

No, not just Sasuke-kun, she'll show everyone.

She turned around, changing her mind about leaving. She called the name of her sensei, who turned around to face her.

"Yes, Sakura?"

The tone of her voice sounded sad and disappointed. Probably at Sakura herself, she thought to herself.

She steeled herself, standing more upright with a straight face, masked with determination.

"Please... train me."

 **Alright! That marks the end of the Team 8 mini arc.**

 **And yes, I am fully aware of the fact that Rasa's Gold Dust was never stolen in the anime or the manga for that matter. However, I decided to take advantage take if the fact that Suna was pretty weak at the time and was struggling as a village.**

 **Anyways, the next chapter should mark the beginning of the Chunin Exams.**

 **Now, before putting down the pen for this chapter, I would like to give a big thanks to Tiramisu, who revised and edited this chapter to make it better!**

 **Anyways, that's it for now, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Take care, goodbye!**


	10. The Chunin Exams?

"Y-You shouldn't push yourself this hard, Naruto-kun."

Currently, Hinata along with Sasuke were lumbering Naruto's fatigued body, walking on the way to the mission assignment room for _another_ D-ranked mission.

Ever since they had returned from Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves), it had been constant D-ranked missions. There were very few training sessions that Team 7 went through together.

And Kakashi seemed to be very bored with the team. He was always not paying attention, his eyes on the pages of his Icha Icha book. It was a miracle he didn't ram into anyone.

And that's not even stating the fact that Kakashi was _always_ late to their team meetings. Even though the Hyuga Clan heavily ignored her after she was deemed a failure, she was still required to act formal, polite, and to always be on time.

To not do any of those those things would be a stain to the Hyuga Clan's reputation. But then Hinata would remember that she had already stained the Hyuga Clan reputation with her very existence.

"SAAAAAASSSSSSUUUUUKEEEEE!"

Hinata flinched, tilting her head away from Naruto after hearing his loud angry outburst. Naruto had shoved his arm off of Sasuke and moved his other arm off of Hinata as well.

Thank goodness, the girl thought she was going to pass out from making contact with him for so long.

 _Their teammate has gotten worse recently..._ The son of the White Fang thought to himself with a sigh. Sure, Hinata has been noticeably more confident, but ever since returning from Nami no Kuni, Naruto and Sasuke have been getting into more fights.

Not really fights, more like Naruto yelling Sasuke's name out of sheer rage due to his attitude, another thing that hasn't improved.

However, Sasuke seemed to be more tolerant of his teammates, so that was a good thing.

"Hmph, idiot. If you really want to prove something to me...then become stronger than me." Sasuke said daringly, turning around to face Naruto.

Both male Genin immediately had thoughts of the battle with Haku play in their mind. They may have been able to work together then, but it still didn't mean that they were equal.

Hinata sighed. It had been like this for a while now. Normally, after the mission in Nami no Kuni, Naruto and Sasuke would get in a fight, and Hinata would try to break it up calmly...only to get ignored, mostly because Hinata herself didn't know to act strict and commanding. And since she was always so quiet, it was easy for people to ignore her.

It happened so many times that Hinata just gave up on breaking Naruto and Sasuke's argument.

"Alright, then. Let's call it quits for today. I need to submit the mission report now." Kakashi announced to his Genin.

"Then I'm heading home." The survivor of the Uchiha massacre said, turning around and walking away, with Kakashi disappearing in a pool of smoke.

This left Naruto and Hinata alone.

Both were dead silent, not knowing what to say to each other.

Hinata began to blush while playing with her fingers, _Come on Hinata! You can say something to him! You stood in the path of Zabuza's killing intent! Talking to someone can't be this hard! Go on, Hinata!_

Her body and words failed her.

Naruto's ears perked. He could have sworn he had heard something rustling on the ground. He turned his body, seeing a rectangular thing with eye holes in it.

 _Is that supposed to be a rock?_ Naruto wondered internally out of disbelief.

"A square rock with two holes like that doesn't exist! Cut the act Konohamaru!" Naruto pointed accusingly at the rock, "It's so obvious!"

"I should have expected that from the man who is my rival!" After three explosions of different colored smoke, Hinata finally turned her head in Naruto's direction to see what was going on.

To her surprise, three little kids were revealed by the smoke, coughing heavily. A girl, a boy with a scarf, and a boy with a drooling nose and glasses. Hinata also noted the fact that they were wearing the exact same goggles that Naruto used to wear in the Academy.

What Hinata saw next was something she would never unsee. To be honest, she actually thought it was very adorable, but that was her on the inside talking.

The three kids began to introduce themselves, saying some weird stuff. All Hinata got from it was that the girl was named Moegi, the boy with glasses was named Udon, while the boy with the scarf, who was in the middle, was called Konohamaru.

Naruto squinted and threw his arms behind his head, "Yeah, I knew it was you guys. What are you guys doing with those goggles on your head?"

Konohamaru grinned, bringing his hands up to his goggles in a similar way to Naruto and his headband, "You used to wear goggles! We're just copying you, Naruto-nii-chan!"

Moegi walked up to Naruto with a pleading look, "Hey Boss, do you have anything to teach us today?"

 _Boss?_ Hinata couldn't help but giggle quietly at the way the kids were treating Naruto. She clamped her mouth shut when Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, her face flushing red like a tomato.

"Sorry, I'm going to be training!" Naruto declared, much to the disappointment of the three Academy students.

"Hey! You said you would play Ninja with us!" The grandson of the Third Hokage retorted.

"Really? Haha…"

 _If I play Ninja with these guys, I'll be stuck with them all day!_ He directed his attention over to his Hyuga teammate, an idea sprouting in his mind.

Naruto was about to introduce Hinata to Konohamaru and his friends, but the Honorable Grandson had already seen her.

A sly grin appeared on Konohamaru's face, "So Boss, is this your…" He stuck up his pinky finger, "Girlfriend?"

The sound of elephants rampaging in a tightly spaced room went off in Hinata's head as she blushed redder than the hair of a regular Uzumaki.

"No, no, no, no, no! Hinata and I are just friends! Right Hinata?" Naruto turned to the girl for confirmation.

"R-Right…" Hinata nodded with a sad look on her face. However, she noted that Naruto had a very faint blush on his cheeks.

 _Is Naruto-kun…?_

Konohamaru took a long glance at Hinata's face. He didn't know why, but he could have sworn the girl looked familiar. Was it the hair, no, definitely not. The hair was too short and it was a different color. The clothes, no, those were too baggy. The eyes…

Oh no…

A nightmare of a memory for Konohamaru replayed in his head. He remembered pulling a prank on someone cause he wanted to be better than Naruto, and being better than Naruto meant you had to pull pranks.

He was caught as usual. But no by an adult. The girl looked like she was supposed to go to the Academy, but Konohamaru had never seen her before.

But he knew that the look on her face at the time was trouble, and those weird veins around her eyes followed by the beating that followed after did not ease his fears.

All in all, when Konohamaru saw Hinata, he bolted, screaming 'THE EYYYYYYEEEEEEES'!

"Hold on, Konohamaru!" Naruto called out for his friend, running after him, prompting Hinata and the others to follow in hot pursuit.

 _BANG!_

The sound of a body running right into another.

Konohamaru let out a whimper as he fell back onto his butt. He looked up to see two people were significantly taller than him standing right in front of him.

A guy in black and a girl with blonde hair.

"That hurt." The boy in black commented, causing Naruto and the others to stop.

The first thing Hinata noticed was the insignia on the duos headbands.

 _These two are from Suna...but why are they here?_ Hinata thought to herself out of confusion, before remembering something that was happening in Konoha around this time.

"Konohamaru!"

Hinata snapped back into reality and saw the man in black holding up Konohamaru by the scarf.

"Stop it. We're going to get in trouble for this." The girl chided the other Suna Shinobi.

"We-We're very sorry for our rudeness. P-Please let go of our friend." Hinata took a step forward, taking a polite bow, acting respectful just from the fact that these two were from a different nation.

"Let go of him now, teme!" Naruto yelled at the ninja from Suna, which only worsened the situation.

"Let go!" Konohamaru began to kick at the man holding him.

"You're very energetic, brat." The man smirked, tightening his grip on Konohamaru's scarf, causing the boy to let grimace.

 _How cruel…_ Hinata was about to say something again to try and get the man to stop, but Naruto was already dashing towards the men head on.

Hinata widened her eyes as she saw the man in black merely move the fingers of his free hand. She heard a yell of surprise from Naruto followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground.

"What was that?" Naruto questioned out loud. It was as if he had tripped over something. But he didn't see anything! So hat was it?

"Konoha's Genin are weak. You guys act tough for people so young. I hate people like you. Your kind makes me want to break you!"

Naruto and Hinata's eyes momentarily dilated.

The blonde girl let out a sigh, "I'm not going to be held responsible for what you do."

The man lifted his hand, forming into a fist, preparing to slug Konohamaru in the face.

"Stop!" Naruto cried out as he began to dash towards the guy holding Konohamaru.

Suddenly, the man in black let out a cry, feeling a sharp pain on his hand. He let go of Konohamaru as he placed his other hand on top of the place where the pain was coming from, gritting his teeth.

The sound of a small rock hitting the ground was heard.

"What do you think you're doing in a foreign village?" The voice of Sasuke Uchiha asked. The group looked in the direction of the voice, seeing Sasuke sitting on the branch of a tree continuously chucking another small rock in the air before catching it.

"Sasuke-kun!" Hinata blurted out of surprise.

"Nii-chan!" Konohamaru cried, immediately running over to Naruto, looking for comfort with the jinchuuriki.

"Another brat that's pissing me off."

Sasuke threw the pebble into the air one more time before catching it. He pressed down hard on the rock with his fist, before opening his hand, revealing the grains of the now crushed rock.

Naruto's eyes went white as he began to pull a Hinata, pushing his pointer fingers together in an embarrassed way.

"Naruto-nii-chan! Why can't you be that cool?!" Konohamaru enquired with tears streaming down his face.

"Uh-I would have beaten that guy without a sweat!" Naruto gave Konohamaru a sheepish smile, patting him on the back.

"Liar!" Konohamaru turned his head away.

"I hate kids like you, who think they are so clever!" The man said before pulling on the bandages of the attachment on his back. The man slammed the object onto the ground, patting the brown hair like part at the top.

"Hey! Are you really going to use Karasu?!" The blonde haired girl with a fan on her back asked out of surprise, as if she actually sounded a little scared.

"Kankuro, stop it." A monotone voice commanded. Sasuke's blood ran cold, hearing the voice coming from the other side of the tree, where another branch was sticking out.

Naruto, Hinata, and the others were looking with astonished looks on their faces as they saw an auburn haired boy hanging on the tree upside down.

"You're a disgrace to our village." The boy stated.

"G-Gaara…" Kankuro attempted to force a comfortable smile, but the sweat that was running down on his face betrayed him. and his wide eyes also was a dead giveaway that this Gaara kid scared the shit out of him.

 _This guy...just when did he appear next to me? He was as quiet as Kakashi._ Sasuke noted internally.

"Make anymore disgraceful actions...and I'll kill you." Gaara threatened with a hint of malice hidden in his voice.

This declaration from Gaara caused the man now known as Kankuro to flinch out of fear.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" Kankuro apologized to Gaara.

Sasuke stood up on the branch as Gaara turned into multiple grains of sand. The sand made its way in front of Kankuro and the girl (Temari), before reforming into Gaara.

"Let's go. We didn't come here to fool around." Gaara told his teammates as they began to walk away, with Kankuro and Temari doing more out of obligation than choice.

"W-Wait!" Hinata surprisingly spoke up.

The three stopped, with Temari speaking for the group, "What is it?"

"I-It is clear that you three from Sunagakure, and that by normal means ninja are forbidden from setting foot in a foreign village, even if there is an alliance. S-So...does that mean you're here for the Chunin Exams?"

"Chunin Exams?" Naruto repeated under his breath. He had never heard of such a thing before. "What's that?"

"Seems your the dumbass of the Konoha Genin. Deadlast of your class, I assume?" Temari taunted, causing a tick mark to form on Naruto's head. A tick mark also formed on Hinata's head, something that didn't go unnoticed by Temari, "Cute girlfriend, kid."

"She's not my girlfriend!"

Hinata felt an anvil drop hard on her head, with the word 'Rejected' engraved in it. Oh how the world was so cruel. She only expected that much though. After all, it's not like Naruto was aware of her feelings. Plus, the blonde in orange had his eyes set on Sakura.

"Naruto-nii-chan! The Chunin Exams are a bunch of tests where if you pass, you get promoted to the next rank!" Konohamaru supplied Naruto, causing the boy to get a wide smile on his face.

"Really? Then I'll take it too!" Naruto could practically feel the rank of Hokage on his tongue. It was getting closer and closer, he could just reach out and grab it!

He could just imagine the headlines: _Old Man Hokage Gives Up The Hokage Mantle To Naruto Uzumaki, Stating That The Man Is A Much Better Hokage And Is The Strongest Shinobi In The Village!_

His daydreams were cut out by Sasuke, who landed on the ground, asking for Gaara's name. Apparently, Sasuke wasn't paying too shocked at Gaara's appearance to hear Kankuro say his name, out of fear no less.

"Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Desert). I am interested in you." Gaara admitted, turning his body to face Sasuke, "Your name?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

The two stared at each other. The wind began to blow at their clothes and faces as both characters tried to scare one another away, but to no avail.

"Hey! Hey! What about me?" Naruto asked the auburn haired Shinobi.

"I'm not interested." Gaara replied coldly, turning away once again as he and his teammates jumped away.

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk after they left.

 _This is getting interesting…_

* * *

 **The Next Day**

"Hehe! Screw you Kakashi-sensei! If you think showing up late is a good idea, then I'll do it too!" Naruto said as he walked onto the bridge, where Sasuke and Hinata were waiting, the former getting impatient.

"Got scared, dobe?"

"SHUT UP SASUKE!" The blonde shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Hmph, not my fault you're stupid to arrive late the one time Kakashi is here on time."

Naruto paled.

…

…

…

"What did you say?"

"NNNNNAAAAAAARRRRRUUUUTTTOOOOOOO!" The booming voice of Kakashi yelled as in a puff of smoke, the now angry Jonin was towering right behind Naruto.

 _Oh Naruto-kun..._ Hinata thought with a sad and sympathetic look, feeling sorry for her crush.

"Ka-Ka-Ka-Kakashi-sensei!" The Uzumaki trembled where he stood, ready to accept the punishment. Sasuke tried to hide the smirk on his face, but he was failing miserably.

"So, Naruto."

"Yes?"

"Why were you late?"

"Why was I late?"

"Why were you late?"

"Cause I thought _you_ were going to be late!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. But all I know that it is rude to keep your teammates and especially your Jonin sensei waiting!"

"HYPOCRITE!"

"Late attendance and talking back to your Jonin sensei. I will think of a punishment later. Maybe I'll have you dust my bookshelf at home."

…

…

…

"On second thought, never mind. Come here Naruto."

"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Kakashi gave Naruto an early punishment. And if anyone saw what Kakashi was trying to do to Naruto, they would think that he was trying to drown Naruto.

* * *

"Good, since that is out of the way, I can finally get to why I called you down here."

Hinata turned her attention from Kakashi to a very wet and beat up Naruto, who was plastered on the ground with his tongue sticking out, too weak from trying to run away to move.

Note to self: Don't get on sensei's bad side.

"I wanted to give you three these." Kakashi held out three applications for the Chunin Exams.

Hinata was surprised to see Naruto standing up with a look that he would probably wear if he got a lifetime supply of ramen after Kakashi said this.

"Of course, the recommendations don't force you to take it. You can decide whether you take it or not."

"YES! KAKASHI-SENSEI I LOVE YOU!" Naruto squealed, jumping on Kakashi, who threw his arms out, struggling to throw the wet Naruto off him. This must be revenge for the silver-haired Jonin almost drowning Naruto.

When Naruto finally jumped off, Kakashi continued, "The exams are on 6 days from now. Have your applications in before then. On the day of the first round, get to the Academy by 3 PM and go to room 301. That's all."

* * *

 **Later-Hyuga Manor**

 _Participate in the Chunin Exams..._ Hinata thought to herself as she held the application in both of her hands, gazing down at the parchment with hesitant eyes. _Am I really ready for this?_

No, she has to participate. Naruto and Sasuke will want to participate, and if Hinata remembers correctly, you cannot enter the exams without a team of 3. If Hinata backed out now, Naruto and Sasuke would lose their chance to become Chunin, and it would be all her fault.

 _No. That's not all. This is the perfect opportunity. To see if I really have changed..._ Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I can do this!"

"Do what, _Hinata-sama_?" Hinata froze when she heard the familiar chilling voice. She looked up from her application to see her cousin, Neji Hyuga.

He had an emotionless expression on his face. A face he usually wore ever since the Hyuga Affair.

"Could that be the Chunin Exam application form in your hands?" Neji asked with a sneer, one of the only facial expressions Hinata was met with by her cousin.

"Y-Yes...it is." Hinata spoke up, trying her best to compose herself against Neji. For Pete's sake, she was there in the battle with Zabuza and Haku! She could handle this...right?

"You don't really plan on entering, do you? After all, _I_ am entering the exams as well. We both know that if it came down to the two of us fighting, you would only hurt yourself." Neji said with no concern at all.

Hinata knew that despite what Neji was saying, he bore a strong hatred for her. She knew this, as in the past with their training sessions, Neji would glare at her with a hateful look in his eyes. He would often abuse her during training sessions, to the point where an overseer would have to intervene and use the Hyuga Clan's Fuinjutsu to keep Neji at bay.

"There are some very strong Shinobi that are also attending the Chunin Exams! Ones that are above your level! You stand no chance. Admit it! You're only entering the exams because you don't want to be a burden to your teammates." Neji narrowed his eyes as he practically stared right into his cousin's soul with little remorse for her sensitive feelings.

Despite the verbal abuse, Hinata mentally slapped herself, she could feel the emotional toll catching up to her. Any more and the tears would start falling.

She wrapped her arms around her body, a clear sign of her trying to put up a wall between her and Neji.

"N-No, that's not true! I-"

"Deep down, you know the truth. You're a failure, a disgrace to the Hyuga Clan. Everyone knows you are a failure. Even your teammates think so. Everyone knows you're both too kind and too weak to be a Shinobi. You were born into this world as a failure, as scum of the earth. This is your fate, Hinata-sama! And one cannot change their fate! And we all know your mother thought of you as a failure, just like Hiashi-Dama does!" Neji spat, walking past her, leaving her with those words.

Hinata immediately dashed to her room, slamming the door shut behind as she dropped down onto her bed facedown.

She began to cry. She cried as hard as she could. But she knew that no one would answer her cries. Ko was probably out on a mission, and basically all of the other Hyuga's looked down on her.

"Mother...please...help me…"

And the worst part was, Hinata already knew the reason why Neji hated her so much. And she knows deep down, she will never be able to change it. He hates her…

Because she is a failure…

* * *

 **On the Day of the Chunin Exams**

"You're late, Hinata!" Naruto chuckled as he saw his female teammate walking up to them with her head down.

"G-Good morning…" Hinata droned, not even bothering to face her teammates.

Both Sasuke and Naruto picked up on this odd behavior. Sure Hinata was quiet and weird, and she basically always looked sad, but she was never this depressed before.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Naruto asked out of concern.

"N-No," Hinata lied, "It's nothing."

Naruto didn't believe it one bit.

He went up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, to which she didn't even give a reaction. Not one bit of red was on her face.

Ok, now Sasuke definitely knew something was wrong. Hinata would always blush if Naruto even said something her. He was doing much more than talking, he was actually making _physical_ contact with Hinata, and she wasn't reacting in any way.

"Come on Hinata, I can see it in your eyes. Plus…" Naruto let out a foxlike grin, "You're a terrible liar."

 _Terrible…_

 _Failure…_

"Failure…"

"Huh? What was that, Hinata?"

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun...I don't think I can partake in the exams. I-I'm sorry." Hinata closed her eyes, turning her back from her teammates. This earned asurprised look from both of them, even Sasuke.

"Hey, come on, what happened? Did your clan do something to you?" Naruto questioned, concerned about her teammates wellbeing.

"I...I...I saw my cousin...he's also attending the exam…"

And Hinata did not need to say more.

"So this cousin of yours looked down on you and insulted you, huh? Some family he is! Hinata, whatever he said, don't pay any attention to it!" Naruto advised Hinata, only for the girl to start crying.

"B-But don't you see! I'm a failure! I didn't do anything to help out on our C-ranked mission!" Hinata hid her face in her hands, ashamed of crying in front of her teammates.

"Hinata," To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke actually was saying something, "You maybe the weakest of our team, but you are in no way useless. You were able to take down 2 of Zabuza's Mizu Bunshins (Water Clones) with relative ease."

Naruto nodded his head out of agreement, "The bastard's right! And that Byakugan of yours make you look so cool! I wish I had eyes like that!" Naruto flailed his arms around enthusiastically, genuine meaning what he said,

Sasuke closed his eyes and added, "Unlike Naruto, you actually have a brain."

"What was that?!"

This time, Hinata actually giggled at their argument. Now she felt confident now. She shouldn't have let what Neji said get her down. Whatever was coming her way, she would take it head on with her team. Team 7.

Naruto took a deep breath to compose himself, "Looks like you feel better, let's go!"

Sasuke and Hinata nodded their heads as the group walked into the Academy building.

The group arrived to a huddle of Genin surrounding a door with two people in front of it. The number above said 301, but the two in front of the door weren't allowing anyone in.

"Undo the Genjutsu you've put up," Sasuke spoke up, walking forward, "I want to go to the third floor.

Next to Team 7 was Team Guy, composed of Tenten, Lee, and Neji Hyuga. Neji glanced at Sasuke, before going to Naruto, and scanned for the third teammate, only to find Hinata being that third person. A wide frown appeared on his face.

"Not bad," One of the guards at the door stated, "But being able to detect it isn't enough! HYAH!"

The guard threw a roundhouse kick, which Sasuke was going to counter with his own, only to feel their legs being grabbed by Lee, the boy in green spandex.

 _This guy...He's fast._ Sasuke immediately noted, _I didn't even see him coming until the last second!_

"Lee-kun." Hinata spoke with a small smile.

"Hinata-san! It is very youthful to see you here!" Lee smiled, giving her a wink.

"You know this guy, Hinata? Damn! Look at those eyebrows!" Naruto commented, pointing at the green spandex wearing ninja's eyebrows, which were as thick as a bottle cap.

"Y-Yes," Hinata's smile turned into a frown, seeing Lee's teammates walking towards them.

"Hinata- _sama_ ," Neji put an extreme amount of venom in his voice at the 'sama' part, "Why did you enter the exams? You only know you will fail."

Naruto and Sasuke narrowed their eyes. This must be the one that talked down Hinata. This was her cousin.

"Hey, back off! It's her choice to enter or not! You shouldn't be talking down on her as if she was a weakling! Hinata's strong! You people just don't pay any attention to see her improvement!" Naruto defended Hinata, taking a step forward while throwing a hand in front of her as if to keep Neji away,

"Naruto-kun…"

Neji ignored Naruto and turned to Sasuke, "You. What's your name?"

"You're supposed to identify yourself to me before you ask." Sasuke slipped his hands into his pockets, "Besides, I'm not going to answer something like that to someone looks down on my teammate."

"You're a rookie, aren't you. Your eyes," Neji brought a hand up to his face, holding up his pointer and middle fingers, "They're just like mine. A desire to challenge the top, to get stronger. And I can see it in your eyes, you see those two as mere burdens. People to hold you back."

"Naruto and Hinata are stronger than you think." Sasuke glanced at them momentarily before returning Neji's tight gaze. "I'm not like you."

"What?" Neji furrowed his eyebrows out of irritation.

Hinata looked at Sasuke if he had grown two heads, _Since when did Sasuke-kun hold us in that kind of regard?_

"A-Ano, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, w-we should get going now."

And with that, Team 7 left Team Guy, as they passed them, Hinata caught Neji giving her a hateful and nasty glare, as if trying to scare her away. She flinched, shuttling her eyes and looking away. Neji smirked out of satisfaction.

Hinata opened her eyes and looked forward.

Forward, that's where she was going. She wasn't going to let people like Neji get her down! The clan members of the Hyuga might try to break her confidence, but she'll keep trying to hold on! No matter what!

Hinata found her lips curling into a smile as she sped up her walking pace, eventually starting to walk side by side with Naruto and Sasuke.

 _I won't let Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun leave me in the dust! I'll walk with the both of them…_

As a team!

* * *

 **Finished!**

 **So, next chapter is the beginning of the Chunin Exams. Now, like other fics that do the test thing, I will keep skipping through most of it.**

 **Now, since Hinata is on Team 7, she will be sitting away from Naruto, and I'll have someone else sit next to him. I think it is pretty easy who it is going to be.**

 **So, that's all for now guys. hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**

 **P.S-Sorry Tiramisu, but I thought that I could take this chapter by myself. Mostly because this chapter is only around 5,000 words. Next time, I'll make sure to send you the chapter.**


	11. The First Stage

The creaking of a door crawled throughout the room, clustered with Shinobi from Konoha and other foreign villages. The Shinobi in the room all looked over to the new arrivals, seeing Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Hinata Hyuga standing at the doorway.

They all gave them sharp glares, trying to scare them away, particularly Hinata, as the way she crossed her legs made her look like she would drop to the ground on the spot.

Team 7 looked on in shock at the sheer amount of ninjas in the room. There had to be at least one hundred other people here!

From the looks of it, there was no place to sit other than on the floor. All the others had occupied every free seat. And now they were looking at them with intimidating glares.

Hinata immediately noticed the similarities between the looks these people were giving her along with the ones she received from her clan members.

 _They all… look so strong…_ The shy girl wrapped her arms around her body, something that didn't go unnoticed by many, evidenced by the smirks that came across their faces not long after Hinata did this action. _Am I… really ready for this?_ She turned her head to Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke had his eyes narrowed at the other Shinobi, as if trying to return their glares with one of his own. The typical Uchiha 'I'm better than all of you' look was plastered on his face.

Naruto had his teeth grinding against each other. Hinata noticed the blond's fingers quivering in succession with the grinding. He must have been nervous too.

 _If Naruto-kun is nervous… then what makes me think I can be any better?_

Hinata's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. She had not interacted with the owner of the voice that much in the Academy (in fact she hadn't interacted with _anyone_ that much in the Academy for that matter), but she had heard it multiple times cooing over Sasuke along with his other fangirls.

The sight of a blonde-haired girl wrapping her arms around Sasuke, with a look of affection, identified and confirmed the person to Hinata.

It was Ino Yamanaka: Member of Team 10, and one of the three members of the current generation's Ino-Shika-Cho combination.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed heavily out of annoyance at the immediate sight of Ino. He frowned, trying to make it clear that he didn't want to do any of this shit again like at the Academy.

The number of times he had to run laps around the building just to wear out his fangirls was insane.

 _Can't she tell that I'm not interested in hooking up with a girl? I am an avenger. Girls like her will only hinder me if I stick around with them._ The young Uchiha thought to himself, contemplating on whether or not he should shake off Ino, verbally assault her and make her cry and lose affection for him.

He forced himself through this crap for so many years now: He was going to do it!

He stopped himself when he noticed Ino directing her attention to Hinata, albeit still maintaining contact with Sasuke's body.

"Hinata! You seem to be doing well! Tell me, did you… you know…" Ino made a motion with a finger over to Naruto before making a smooching sound.

Hinata immediately went as red as a tomato, covering her face as a way to hide her embarrassment.

"Huh? What's wrong, Hinata? And why are you pointing at me, Ino?" Naruto asked all of these questions, completely oblivious to the meaning behind Ino's words.

"You guys are taking this troublesome exam as well?" The voice of Shikamaru Nara entered, followed by the distinct sound of munching, Choji Akimichi's calling card.

"Hey! It's the idiot trio!" The blond-haired ninja stated, taking a step forward at the sight of Shikamaru and Choji.

"Stop calling us that. Annoying." Shikamaru scoffed as Choji said nothing, yet the accelerated speed of his munching highlighted his annoyance at Naruto's insult.

"I see the gang's all here!" The brash voice of Kiba Inuzuka made the presence of Team 8 known as they walked over to Team 10 and 7.

"You're loud, Kiba! Speak any louder and you'll attract unwanted attention. Not that Sasuke-kun's team hasn't done that already." The voice of Sakura Haruno chided Kiba, however, unlike all of her other scoldings, this one was slightly lighter.

The jade-eyed kunoichi glanced at Sasuke, a slightly irritated expression on her face appearing when seeing Ino making contact with the Uchiha, but she took a quiet breath to compose herself, resisting her desire to slug the blonde girl in the face… especially after seeing her stick her tongue out in a mocking way.

Hinata already knew what was going to come out of Shikamaru's mouth next, "You guys made it too? Geez…"

"S-S-S-Sakura-chan! Your hair!" Naruto pointed at the pink-haired girl.

Sasuke's ears perked up as he stole a glance at said kunoichi, suddenly noticing that the girl had cut her hair short. This surprised everyone of the rookie nine (barring Kiba and Shino), as Sakura was a Sasuke fangirl at heart, and to be his fangirl, one rule was to always have your hair long. Albeit, all males knew that this was just a futile attempt at wooing him and that the fact that he liked girls with long hair was just a rumor.

Sasuke surprisingly let out a small smile, "It seems you've finally taken your duty as a Shinobi seriously, Sakura."

Sakura's lips separated, surprised at the sudden acknowledgement from her crush.

 _What caused this sudden change? She's no longer gushing over me like she used to. Had she really changed that much over time?_ Sasuke thought to himself out of interest, before realizing that he was having a reaction to the pinkette's sudden change.

"So… Sakura-chan… why did you cut your hair?!" Naruto blurted out loudly.

Hinata gave him a sad look, feeling a tinge of jealousy of his lingering feelings for Sakura.

A tick mark appeared on the kunoichi's forehead, but surprisingly, she didn't yell at Naruto or hit him.

"Well, long hair would have gotten in the way of a mission, especially if someone were to grab it." Sakura informed Naruto and the rest with a small smile.

Everyone could tell that it was slightly forced, and the annoyance was easily readable in her voice. Well... everyone except Naruto could see the signs Sakura was unintentionally giving off.

"Well, it seems like all of the rookie nine are here. I wonder how far each of us will go. But only the strong will move. Isn't that right, _Sasuke-kun?_ " Kiba purposely added the honorific to annoy Ino. And to his joy, he got the right reaction out of her. The look that said 'I'm going to kick your ass' was relayed to the brunet through Ino's facial expressions.

Sasuke smirked in Kiba's direction, "You seem confident, Kiba."

"We trained like hell. We won't lose to you."

"Shut up! I won't lose to you." The knucklehead ninja responded to the Inuzuka's declaration with one of his own.

"Hey, you guys." The voice of a person that no one in the rookie nine had ever heard before approached them slowly, "You should quiet down a little. So, you're the nine rookies that just graduated from the Academy, correct? You're all just fooling around with those dumbfounded faces. This isn't a field trip you know."

The man had white hair held up in a ponytail. He wore mostly purple along with some white. However, the two most noticeable features of the man, were his glasses and his Konoha headband.

Hinata squirmed in her place, the symbol on his headband implied that he was on their side, but this guy still gave off an intimidating aura to her.

"It's troublesome, but you should cut the formal chitchat and tell us who you are already." Shikamaru advised the bespectacled man, who merely let out a small smirk.

"If I were you, I would be less worried about me, and take a good look around you, Shikamaru Nara." The rookie nine did no such thing and instead all widened their eyes at the fact that this man had known Shikamaru's name despite meeting him for the first time.

Shikamaru quickly composed himself, the bored look on his face quickly returning. However, there was a tiny increment of interest hidden in the face of the pineapple haired Nara.

"Okay? If you know all of our names, then you should tell us yours." Shikamaru once again urged the man for his name.

"Seems I've got your attention now. My name is Kabuto Yakushi." The man now known as Kabuto introduced himself with a polite tone. "All helpless with little to no knowledge at all. Reminds me of how I used to be."

Sakura stepped forward and spoke up, "Kabuto-san, is this your second time?"

He shook his head, "This is my seventh time."

"Huh?" Shikamaru voiced out of exasperation. Were they really being told up by someone who failed this troublesome exam seven times?

"This exam takes place twice a year. Therefore, it is my fourth year." Kabuto explained to the group.

"That still doesn't explain how you know this guy's name." Naruto said, jabbing a finger at the Nara.

"Oh! That's right, maybe I should give my cute, little, fresh Genin some information, then…" Kabuto replied as he reached down into his pouch, seemingly digging for something.

' _Cute, little, fresh Genin'?_ Hinata thought to herself out of embarrassment. Is that how upperclassmen saw them?

Naruto deadpanned, _This guy's even weirder than Kakashi-sensei…_

The white-haired ninja held up multiple orange cards with a certain kanji symbol on them. He called them recognition cards and explained that the cards have information on the contestants of the exam burned into the cards with his own Chakra.

He showed the rookie nine by revealing the contents of one of the cards. It was a map of the Shinobi world, displaying the amount of ninja coming from different villages who were participating in the exam.

The indigo-haired kunoichi immediately noticed the symbol of a village that she had never seen before, and she was sure the others hadn't either.

Sasuke almost jumped on top of Kabuto, his hidden excitement taking control, "Do those cards have any details of the participants of the exam?"

The older Shinobi hid a smile. The Uchiha had found the purpose of him showing the rookie nine these cards, "That is correct. Is there someone that interests you?" Seeing Sasuke's immediate nod, Kabuto picked up the card and slipped it back into the deck, "Keep in mind the information on these cards isn't perfect. They highlight information like teammates, Jonin sensei, completed missions, and stats."

Hinata had never once in her life seen Sasuke look so expectant of something other than the expression he bore on his face at that moment.

"So, who do you want?"

"Rock Lee from Konoha. And then Gaara from Sunagakure."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes when he saw the pale looks on Team 8's faces at the mention of Gaara. He also noticed Akamaru beginning to whimper.

"Th-That guy… Gaara…" Sakura spoke up, fear crawling out of her voice as she felt her hands trembling, "He's a monster…"

"Y-You've seen him before?!" Hinata blurted out of shock, something that no one had expected to come from her out of all people.

Naruto looked at Sakura out of shock while Sasuke spared the Haruno an interested glance.

"Yes… on a C-ranked mission… his killing intent… his lust for blood… It was unlike anything that I have ever felt in my life." Shino said, reminding people that he was there as well. Even the sound of his voice sounded troubled, and Shino normally spoke with an emotionless and calm tone similar to Sasuke.

"Here they are."

The group returned their attention to Kabuto, who now held two cards in his hand, the light reflecting off his glasses with a glaring shine as he scanned the cards.

"Show me." The black-haired prodigy demanded, his face showing no emotion yet his voice making it clear that he was yearning for information. Any information that he could get on two of the people that he had set his eyes on for the exam.

Kabuto infused his Chakra into the card. In a poof of smoke, the picture of Rock Lee appeared on the right, displaying the things that Kabuto said would be on the card.

"Rock Lee. He is one year older than you guys. Mission wise, he has completed twenty D-ranks and eleven C-ranks. His Jonin sensei is Guy. In just this year, his taijutsu has drastically improved, but he is lacking in other skills."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, taking notes using the information he was receiving.

"Last year he attracted attention as a Genin rookie with his abilities. However, he didn't participate in the Chunin Exams. Like you guys, this is his first time taking the exams. His teammates consist of Tenten and Neji Hyuga."

Hinata flinched when he heard the name with Naruto having been looking at her for a while, before turning his attention back to the card. While the others didn't look at the shy girl, they noted that both were from the Hyuga clan.

"Next, Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Desert). His mission experience, eight C-ranks, B-ranks...Wow, a B-rank as a Genin, eh? Since he's from a different country, there is no further information other than his teammates. However…" Kabuto paused as he adjusted his glasses, "It seems he has returned from all of his missions uninjured."

Choji almost choked on the chips he threw into his mouth.

The others were mesmerized as well, with Shikamaru being the one to speak up, "A B-ranked mission as a Genin, but he came back uninjured?"

If one looked closely, they would see small beads of sweat actually starting to form on Sasuke's face.

Poor Akamaru's trembling only got worse.

Hinata looked down at the ground, slightly discouraged, and her voice so quiet that Kabuto could barely hear her, "W-What about...Otogakure (Sound Village)?"

"They are a newly developing village, so there isn't much information on them." Kabuto answered loud enough so the ears of the only three Otogakure Shinobi perked up, directing their attention to where the older Shinobi and the rookie nine were.

The white-haired man looked up at the rookies, "Keep in mind that these ninjas are elite Genin. In fact, last time I checked, you guys are the first rookies to have entered the Chunin Exams in a while."

Hinata gulped as her anxiety began to kick in again. She looked over to Naruto, who had his head down, his body trembling. His hands were balled into tight fists.

 _Even Naruto-kun looks nervous…_ the lavender-eyed kunoichi thought out of concern. If Naruto, the boy who probably had the most courage and guts out of the rookie nine, was scared then what chance did she, Hinata Hyuga, the most timid and cowardly girl around, have in an exam filled with elite Genin, two of them being Neji and a guy who always came from a B-ranked mission uninjured.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Hinata jerked her head up to see Naruto with a wide grin, shooting his body toward the crowd of Genin with an excited look being capitalized on his features.

He jabbed a finger at the Shinobi, all of whom shot their heads towards him, giving him menacing glares, but the knucklehead ninja didn't seem to care.

"MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI! I WON'T LOSE TO ANY OF YOU, Y'KNOW!"

"N-Naruto-kun!" The shy girl exclaimed out of shock, pressing her hand on the loud boy's arm, not even noticing the sudden contact she made, "Y-You're going to a-attract atten…" her voice died as she saw everyone in the room looking straight at them with cold glares.

As much as she hated to admit it, Naruto had just put targets on their backs.

Sakura's eyes went completely white as she held up a fist, grabbing it tightly with her other hand to avoid punching the blond and as a result attracting more attention. Her training with Kurenai taught her to control her temper more. It would only get her into trouble. But it was almost impossible for the kunoichi to control her anger with Naruto.

Suddenly, the sound of sandals sliding and screeching against the ground was heard. The nine rookies turned their heads to see one of the three ninjas from Otogakure right in front of Kabuto, cocking his fist back for a punch. Sasuke widened his eyes to see the man's fist vibrating.

The man launched his fist right for Kabuto's stomach. However, the white-haired contestant leaned backwards, just barely avoiding the fist as he felt the wind from the punch blow at his face.

The young Uchiha grinned, _I can easily see through that speed!_ He didn't even need to activate his Sharingan to keep up with the movements.

All was silent, with Kabuto gaining a smug look on his face. However, all ears could hear the loud cracking of glass followed by the shards hitting the ground.

The older ninja's lenses had cracked. He still kept the smile on his face, lifting a hand to his glasses and slipping them off.

Sasuke was spooked to say the least, he practically stomped his feet over closer to the white-haired Shinobi out of shock, "What happened? He avoided that attack completely!"

"Must have grazed the tip of his nose." Shikamaru guessed with an uninterested sigh.

Kabuto widened his eyes as he felt his body shaking in place, as if it was vibrating. His vision blurred as he dropped to his knees, coughing out blood on the ground.

"Oi! Kabuto-nii-chan! Are you alright?" Naruto asked out of concern, immediately running over to his fellow ninja.

"Hoh? Has he really taken the exams for four whole years? He doesn't seem that special." The ninja from the Sound, who had bandages all over his face except for the surrounding area of his left eye stated.

"Write this on your little cards. The three Shinobi from Otogakure, will make it to Chunin level with ease." The other male Sound Shinobi said.

"Listen up, you lousy faced degenerates!" A white puff of smoke appeared in the front of the room where the board was, with a male voice booming out of the cloud.

Everyone turned to the owner of the voice and the sound of smoke.

Once it cleared, a man wearing mostly black, with two scars ridden on his face, appeared alongside many other Shinobi with Konoha headbands. The people with the scar-faced man wore some shade of grey.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I am Ibiki Morino, proctor of the first test of the Chunin Exams. And as of this moment, your worst enemy."

* * *

 _Ugh… Great. First this written exam and now I have to sit next to Naruto of all people!_ Sakura thought to herself as she stole a glance at the blond, halting her writing to take a look at his paper to see that he had absolutely nothing written down except his name.

She smirked, _He has no chance of answering any of these questions. Actually, I don't think many people in the room could actually answer these questions…_

Sakura immediately regretted being glad that Naruto was going to fail. Not out of concern for him. And definitely not out of concern for Hinata.

 _Sasuke-kun will get disqualified if Naruto gets a zero!_ Sakura narrowed her eyes. And the chances of the knucklehead getting a zero is one hundred percent.

The jade-eyed girl glanced up at the clock. Forty minutes had gone up of the test. The tenth question had yet to be revealed. If Naruto didn't get at least one question right, then Sasuke was screwed.

" _Someday! I'm going to become Hokage! That way, everyone in the village will have no choice but to acknowledge me!"_

The young kunoichi shook her head as the words Naruto would always shout when in a bad situation replayed in her mind. The amount of times she has heard him say that at the Academy was ridiculous. If she got 10 ryo for every time the words 'I'm going to become Hokage' or something along those lines came out of the blond Genin's mouth, the Harunos would be rich, and her parents could retire if they wanted to.

And her parents weren't even in their forties yet.

 _Do I actually think that Naruto's dream can come true?_ Sakura wondered out of confusion. This was Naruto Uzumaki she was thinking about. The dead last. The boy who probably got special treatment to pass the graduation exam. She shook her head out of denial. _Not a chance… I'm doing this for Sasuke-kun._

Despite suppressing her love for her crush, Sakura will in no way deny that she is still deep down a fangirl. However, the Haruno _has_ actually begun to take her a Shinobi training more seriously and for a bit, after that C-ranked mission, she wasn't thinking about Sasuke that much.

In fact, nowadays she only thinks about him when off duty.

Sakura sighed. _Fine, I'll do it. Besides, Naruto and Hinata are part of the rookie nine. It would be better to have more Shinobi from our village move forward._

"Naruto." The pink-haired Genin spoke in an almost inaudible whisper. The boy still managed to hear though.

If they were still at the Academy, he would have had every instinct to yell out her name out of sheer joy, simply because she was actually talking to him, but recently, he has felt his crush on Sakura dwindling. Maybe it started with the separation from her after their teams had been formed. He has realized he had barely thought of her over the course of the past few weeks, so perhaps he was acknowledging the fact he was slowly losing interest.

Or maybe, just maybe, it was because he didn't know what real love feels like. Sakura's still the prettiest and smartest kunoichi from the Academy in his opinion, but is that enough reason to love someone? Had he loved her at all or was it just temporary shallow attraction? What is love anyway?

After all, no one had taught him. He had no parents, no friends, the Hokage was too busy, and Iruka hadn't taught him much outside the Academy.

"Yeah?"

The pink-haired girl was surprised by the casual response she received. She looked at Naruto's face and saw barely any sign of the usual affection that he had for her.

She took a deep breath. She had to be careful. Naruto was pretty clumsy. There was a high chance that they could both get caught.

"You can look at some of my answers."

The blond ninja's ears perked up, his eyes showing disbelief and shock. He quickly had doubts about Sakura genuinely wanting to help him. At the Academy, she disliked him, like basically everyone else. Plus, she could just be baiting him. Maybe this was a plot from her, Shino and Kiba as a group in order to take out the competition.

"Why?" Naruto asked the female member of Team 8.

"Because…" Sakura paused to think of a reason, "I'll be blunt Naruto, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for Sasuke-kun." Naruto closed his eyes. Why was he not surprised?

"You must really like Sasuke, huh, Sakura-chan?"

A light shade of red appeared on Sakura's face as she nodded her head, continuing her explanation.

"And… your team is part of Konoha. It would be better if more comrades from our village made it to the next round."

Naruto seemed to accept that answer and took it in a much better way than the previous one.

To Sakura's dismay, he declined in the end.

When she slid the paper over so the blond boy could look, a kunai whizzed by them, stopping right in front of the person behind them.

It was probably for this reason that Naruto had declined. What he had said surprised Sakura, and her negative opinion on the Uzumaki actually changed a little because of it.

" _If I get caught, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble, Sakura-chan. Don't worry, I'll be fine!"_

It still didn't change the fact that she was pissed at his decision. She understood why he did it, but she was still mad.

The young kunoichi muttered under her breath out of frustration, "Such an idiot." She practically gave him a chance at a free pass. All he needed to do was not be an idiot and accidentally get himself caught.

Sakura had never thought of Naruto as _that_ much of an idiot. Anymore and she would start to think that he was braindead due to getting his ass handed to him by Sasuke in taijutsu training back at the Academy.

When the tenth question rolled around however, what Naruto did next shocked the young Haruno, and everyone else taking the test for that matter.

 _SLAM!_

Was the sound of the knucklehead ninja slapping his hand on the table in front of him.

"Don't you dare underestimate me! If you think I'm going to run away from this, then you're damn wrong, Scar Face! I'll do it! Even if I have to remain a Genin for the rest of my life! I'll become the Hokage one day, no matter what it takes!" Naruto rose from his seat, glaring daggers at Ibiki, before grinning, "I'm not scared of this test! Like hell I am! One more thing, _when_ I become Hokage, I'm going to throw you out the village and make you do one hundred of these tests with one hundred times the difficulty!"

The loud Genin sank deep into his seat, shutting his eyes and crossing his arms with a loud 'hmph'.

Hinata smiled as she looked at Naruto from the back. He still hadn't given up yet. She was concerned for her crush, as written tests weren't his forte. It took her a bit, but she managed to answer all questions, and she was sure that Sasuke did alright also.

 _This guy…_ Sasuke thought to himself, glancing at his teammate.

"Then I will ask you again," Ibiki's authoritative voice boomed brought the room, "Will you take this question, or not? If you want to quit, now is your last chance!"

"I'm not going back on my word, because that's my nindo!" Naruto smiled, holding a fist in the air towards the Jonin.

Ibiki's gaze washed over the room, trying to whittle away any stragglers with anxiety problems. To his surprise, he didn't catch any. There was still seventy-eight people left. This was much more than he had expected.

Ibiki stepped forward as he looked at the proctors, who smiled and nodded their heads. He gave a nod of his own out of confirmation.

"Well then, if that's how it is… for _all_ of you, the punishment for this boy's insubordination is…"

The blood of everyone in the room froze, with multiple people leaking out killing intent towards Naruto, who shivered in place. However, they would have never guessed Ibiki's next words.

"You have passed the first exam!"

"Wh-What is this place?" Naruto spoke for every Genin remaining in the Chunin Exams as they found themselves facing barbed wired fences, restricting them from entering a forest of some sorts.

It was the day after that first exam. The second section of the Chunin Exams were now starting. The proctor was a purple-haired woman named Anko Mitarashi.

Said woman looked at the group with a smirk on her face, relishing the looks of fear on some of the Genin's faces.

"This is the location for the second exam, the forty-fourth training field. Or you can call it the Forest of Death."

 **I have returned! If you were wondering why this chapter took so long, well, I can only say one thing…**

 **Blame Tiramisusu.**

 **Just kidding. Big thanks to her for editing the chapters (Again, I completely apologize for ditching your job last time). I don't remember where it was, but Tiramisusu did write a little portion of her own about Naruto's dwindling crush on Sakura. Well, more like she extended on what I had put but made it better but that's beside the point.**

 **Anyways, we're heading to the Forest of Death next chapter. At max, hopefully, we'll be spending about 4 chapters in the forest. Or maybe I'LL CRAM IT ALL INTO ONE CHAPTER AND MAKE TIRAMISUSU SUFFER!**

 **Probably not.**

 **Anyways, there's nothing much to say here. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, take care, goodbye!**


	12. The Great Snake

"Don't give him the ointment, Hinata." Sasuke commanded his teammate, who was holding up some of her ointment for Naruto, as the blond had received a scratch on his face earlier.

"B-but, I have the Byakugan. I can easily tell the difference between Naruto-kun and a henge. Plus, if I don't treat t-the wound, it could get infected." Hinata argued as she placed the ointment in Naruto's hand, insisting that he take it.

"What if we get separated? I don't have the Byakugan. Naruto's cut is an easy way to tell the difference. Most of the people there didn't see the proctor actually scratch him." The Uchiha reasoned with his female teammate, who sighed out of defeat. There was no way she was going to win this argument.

And the more she thought about it, the more Sasuke was right.

While Naruto placed the ointment in his weapons pouch, Hinata formed hand signs to activate her Byakugan. She jerked her head immediately, pushing Naruto out of the way as a kunai whizzed by where he was originally standing. Naruto fell onto the ground with wide eyes when he noticed the thrown object. Had his lavender-eyed teammate not pushed him out of the way, there would be a kunai stuck in the side of his throat right now.

The group immediately turned to where the weapon came from to see a woman wearing a straw hat standing on the branch of a tree. Said woman was draped in yellow and black with a Kusagakure (Grass Village) headband on her forehead.

The kunoichi jumped off the branch and landed a couple of feet away from the members of Team 7, all of whom got ready in a fighting stance.

"Hinata, are her teammates around?" Sasuke questioned, not keeping his eyes off of the enemy.

"No. Just her." Hinata answered, before noticing the woman in front of them pulling out a black scroll.

"You want the Earth Scroll, don't you? Because… after all, you _do_ have the Heaven Scroll." She brought her scroll up to her mouth, opening it wide and forcing the scroll inside, wrapping her tongue around it as she forced it in.

She covered her face, before revealing her widened eyes, staring right at the three.

Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke all froze up on the spot. Immediately, they saw images of a gruesome fate awaiting them if they were to fight this mysterious person. They were all marked with slashes on their bodies by kunai, their blood splattered all over the ground… mixing together.

Hinata's eyes practically lost all light as she began to hyperventilate. Eventually, both her and Sasuke found themselves crouching over, puking out a ton of saliva.

 _We can't do this…_ The bluenette kept telling herself inwardly as she felt her body tremble with fear. _This killing intent… our doom…_

She tried her best not to shed tears of fear, so she wouldn't give her enemy the satisfaction of seeing her in such a state. However, she failed miserably, as fears about their deaths reappeared in her mind, no matter how hard she tried to shove them out.

 _Move… Move… Come on move! Even if it's just a little…_ Sasuke trembled as he felt his fingers drape over a kunai in his pouch. When he felt it, he gripped it tightly, as if he was trying to ease his fears with the weapon in hand.

He brought a knee up and began rising to his feet, dropping down into a stance with his kunai in front.

Naruto saw these actions at the corner of his eye. And for some reason, he felt his fears slightly dwindling away.

He had almost forgotten that Sasuke and Hinata were here. He couldn't let them down. He couldn't fall here! After all, how could he become the Hokage of the village, if he couldn't even protect two of his precious comrades?

The trembling he was experiencing began to steady, before stopping completely. He rose to his feet without hesitation, forming a hand sign with his fingers.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The opponent gained an interested look as she saw ten replications of Naruto appear. Nine of them charged at the enemy. On the other hand, the original Naruto and the last replication stayed behind, grabbing Sasuke and Hinata, breaking them out of their stupor and carrying them away as fast as he could, leaving the woman with the Kage Bunshins.

* * *

 **Later**

Naruto panted heavily as he and his clone put down his teammates, who had spooked looks on their faces. Sasuke however, seemed to be slowly recovering.

Their female teammate however, looked even worse than before. The kunoichi's cheeks puffed up as she retched out a thick glob of vomit that spilled over her jacket and pants.

Naruto crouched down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder out of comfort. Hinata flinched. She looked like she would faint, not out of embarrassment, but out of fear. Other than the startled reaction she gave from the blond's contact, all she was giving out was a blank stare into space.

However, what did knock her out of her transparent state, was what Sasuke did next.

The Uchiha thrusted the kunai in his hand into his leg, breaking into the skin as he clenched his teeth, letting out a hissing noise as he endured the pain.

"S-Sasuke/S-Sasuke-kun!" Both Naruto and Hinata exclaimed out of surprise in unison.

Sasuke removed the kunai from his leg, a hole in his skin where the weapon once was. Blood spewed out like lava from a volcano.

Without a second thought, the blue-eyed ninja had reached into his pocket and took out the ointment that Hinata had gave him earlier. He looked away as he held it out to the wounded boy.

"Here."

The shy girl let out a small gasp of surprise while Sasuke stared blankly at the container. The raven-haired Genin was at a loss for words. However, there was definitely no time to dwell on his teammate's surprising action. He nodded his head and took the ointment, beginning to apply to his leg wound.

"Hinata! What are you doing?! Use your Byakugan! That person could be following us as we speak!" The bleeding ninja yelled at the girl, who yelped out of surprise. She was so spooked that she hadn't realized that her Byakugan was deactivated.

"Hey, Hinata! Don't push yourself. If you need to take a break, then take a break." The Uzumaki told the girl, while the other boy made a sound of annoyance.

"We don't have time! Hinata! Do it now!"

"Byakugan!" She ushered as veins bulged around the eyes of the indigo-haired kunoichi. A gasp of horror escaped her lips, "She's coming on a snake!"

Her teammates widened their eyes as the three of them immediately leaped to their own branch on a single tree.

As soon as their feet hit their respective branch, a big snake came bursting through the forest, immediately setting its sights on Sasuke.

The targeted ninja momentarily froze up on the spot before jumping away from the tree. In a flash, he was chucking multiple shuriken at the giant reptile rigorously, "Get away from me!"

The shuriken impaled the snake in multiple places, with blood gushing out of the wounds. The serpent tumbled over onto its side, the life in its eyes being washed away in a second.

A worried expression found itself on Sasuke's face. He panicked mentally, trying to think of a solution to get out of this fight. After all, he knew one thing, he and the others stood no chance against this person at all.

If they were to continue fighting, they would surely end up dying. And that was one thing he definitely wanted to avoid.

 _This is all I can do…_

"Wait!" Sasuke called out to the woman, who turned her head, looking at him with an interested look. It didn't make much to notice a flash of longing and desire stream over the snake user's face. He chose to ignore this, as his proposal would get her off their backs.

Naruto and Hinata both froze on the spot when they saw Sasuke reach into his pouch and pull out their Heaven Scroll.

The black-eyed Genin held out the hand with the scroll, as if to tempt his enemy.

"If you desire the scroll, then I'll give it you. In exchange for the scroll, you leave us alone… _Please._ " If hearing a pleading tone from Sasuke Uchiha wasn't shocking enough to the other two Genin, it was the fact that their raven-haired teammate wasn't setting up a bait. He was being completely serious.

He was willingly giving up, and that set Naruto off the wrong way.

"Stop, Sasuke! Why the hell are you giving our scroll to the enemy?!" The angry blond demanded an answer from the Uchiha. Something was definitely wrong here. The real Sasuke would _never_ back down from a fight, no matter how impossible the odds seemed.

"Shut up, you idiot!" The other male glared at his annoying teammate, giving him a look that said, 'Don't screw this up'.

"I see. You're very sensible, Sasuke- _kun_." The pupil-less kunoichi felt a chill run down her spine when she heard the gleeful tone in the woman's voice, especially when she added the honorific to Sasuke's name. "When face to face with the predator, the only thing the prey can hope for is presenting other food, praying that you would be spared, am I right?"

"Sasuke-kun…" Hinata realized why Sasuke was doing this. He wanted to protect not only himself, but her and Naruto as well. He was doing this for them.

The boy said nothing in response to her words. The only thing that came from him as he threw the scroll over to where the Kusa ninja was, "Just take it!"

Suddenly, in a speed that seemed as fast as the Yellow Flash, a yellow blur passed in between Sasuke and the yellow and black clothed enemy. Naruto had snatched the scroll, and he looked absolutely livid.

He landed on the branch, holding up a fist as he turned to his black-eyed teammate.

"Bastard! What the hell are you doing?!"

What happened next occurred in slow motion for Hinata. Her blond teammate's punch whizzed through the air, making direct contact with Sasuke's mug. The Uchiha didn't even know what was going on until he felt his feet leave the branch. He immediately recovered, using his Chakra to propel himself into the air, landing on the branch in front of Naruto.

"You… What the hell has gotten into you?!"

Naruto looked down at his feet, taking deep breaths, trying to compose himself. He failed to do so due to Sasuke's actions which the Uzumaki viewed as idiotic.

"You… You're just an imposter, aren't you?!" The blue-eyed Genin jabbed finger towards his male counterpart on the team, leaving a look of shock on both Hinata and Sasuke's face, followed by an angry one on the latter.

"You fucking idiot! I'm the real Sasuke!"

"Liar!" Naruto rasped, glaring daggers at the supposed imposter with more rage than ever before, "… You, the coward that's standing before me now… willingly wanting to give up the scroll… That definitely isn't the Sasuke I know! Even if you do give her the scroll, how do you know she will leave us alone then, huh?!"

The woman in the same branch as Naruto chuckled, calling out the Uzumaki's name, who spared her a disgusted glance.

The Kusa Shinobi widened her eyes, a sadistic look on her face as she licked her lips, "You are correct. If I wanted to, I could easily kill you and retrieve the scroll…"

She put her hand on her left sleeve, sliding it up to reveal black markings on her arm. Using her right hand, she bit on her thumb, drawing blood and plastering it over the bit finger. She drew a line with the bloodied digit over the symbols on her left arm. She formed multiple hand signs before reciting the name of a technique.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)!" Great gusts of wind found themselves rushing through the forest, causing a rumbling sound as the breeze smacked across the leaves. Naruto blinked twice, and when he looked to where the woman was, he saw the body of a giant snake with the older kunoichi perched on top of the head.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out of concern as she witnessed the creature throw its head at Naruto, who managed to leap away just in time.

The serpent swung its tail at Naruto with great speed, the poor Uzumaki never saw it coming, and he was blown upwards into a branch. He felt his back hit against the wood hard, spitting out blood when he made collision.

Sasuke and Hinata merely looked on as they saw their teammate falling. They both had the instinct to go out and try to save him. But something was holding them back. They were hesitating. It felt like they couldn't move.

"How disappointing." The black-haired kunoichi muttered under her breath before raising her voice so the snake could hear, "Have at it, my pet."

The giant reptile recoiled, as if it was excited that it could once again get a good meal. A human body, that is. An alive one at that.

The snake shot its body up, making its way to Naruto so he could be devoured in one chomp.

What happened next no one expected.

The targeted ninja sped up his descent as he drew out his foot, practically stomping on the snake's face, causing it to flinch. This earned a surprised reaction from the female opponent.

"EAT THIS!" Naruto bellowed, his voice echoing in the distance. The Uzumaki finally shot his eyes open, revealing red slit eyes instead of the normal pure blue ones.

The Kusa ninja looked at the now strength-enhanced Uzumaki, a look of interest drawn on her face as she saw the blond cock his fist back for a punch.

 _This kid… Could he be…_

Naruto let out a loud cry, throwing a barrage of punches at the summoned snake as if he was venting out his anger on the creature.

 _Naruto-kun… His strength has increased drastically…_ Hinata noted as she analyzed her crush's Chakra, seeing that, like in Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves), Naruto's Chakra was red instead of blue. _There it is again… What's happening with Naruto-kun?_

"Naruto… is that really the same him?" Sasuke asked himself as he remembered when he had supposedly died in Nami no Kuni. Naruto had somehow managed to fight Haku on his own and according to Hinata he even managed to land a nasty shot on the boy's face. He didn't believe it at first, as the knucklehead was physically weaker than the Uchiha prodigy, and even the latter knew he couldn't do that to Haku.

Just like how it was with this snake.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke found himself blurting out as he saw his comrade crash through a branch after being enveloped in a fireball launched from the woman on the creature.

"Sasuke-kun! You're mine!" The woman announced for the world to hear. The raven-haired ninja once again found himself glued to his spot, unable to move. He could only watch as the giant serpent came rushing towards him. Sasuke shut his eyes, ready to accept his end when suddenly...

"HAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH"

 _CRASH!_

The sound of a body smashing against the head of a snake could be heard throughout the Forest of Death.

Sasuke found himself still impacted in his spot, something he cursed himself for. However, what surprised him was that he wasn't either unconscious, dead, or flying in the air _to_ the first two outcomes.

As he opened his eyes, he saw a sight he never expected to see.

Naruto was right in front of him, head down, breathing heavily, holding two kunais. One was in each of his hands, engraved into the face of the snake that was frozen in front of him. Blood stains began to spread around its face, the source being where the blond had drove the kunai knives into.

"Yo…" He droned, finding the whole situation ironic, as he had been in the same position Sasuke was in right now not so long ago, "Are you hurt… Scaredy Cat?"

Naruto looked up, staring at the prodigy straight in the face, causing black eyes to meet red eyes.

 _Naruto…_ Sasuke immediately recognized what his teammate had said. He spoke the same words to him on their first C-ranked mission...

" _Yo… Are you hurt… Scaredy Cat?"_

Sasuke would have laughed at the irony of the situation, had it not been in the midst of a downhill battle with a single Shinobi who's leagues above them.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, "This lame coward I'm looking at right now… It's definitely not the _you_ that I know!" he would have said more, but he gasped when he felt a tongue wrap around his arms. He felt his feet leave the ground as he was hanging in the air, flailing around, trying to shake out of the tongue's tight grip.

To Sasuke and Hinata's surprise, it wasn't the snake's tongue.

"Damn it! Let me go!"

The long-tongued Shinobi brought Naruto closer, turning his body around so his stomach was facing her.

 _Who would have thought that the Kyubi brat had lived on?_ The woman put a hand on her right wrist, _It seems that whenever he loses control of his emotions, the Chakra of the Kyubi leaks out and takes control. You have grown into an interesting boy…_

She stretched out the fingers of her right hand. Five purple flames appeared, one on each of the snake user's fingertips. She extended her long tongue even more, reaching down to Naruto's shirt and pulling it up, revealing the black seal painted on the boy's bare stomach.

 _No!_ Hinata snapped out of her stupor, realizing that something bad was going to happen, _I need to do something now!_

Hinata began moving too late…

 _Gogyo Fuuin (Five-Pronged Seal)!_ The woman mentally chanted as she thrusted her hand onto Naruto's abdomen, causing the boy to let out a loud yell of pain, his mouth stretching widely while a second layer to his seal was added.

Naruto's pupils shook as they changed from red back to the normal blue hue. The woman reached into his pouch and removed the Heaven Scroll, taking possession of it and placing it inside her own. Afterwards, she flung Naruto away. Fortunately, the now unconscious Uzumaki landed on the branch of a tree.

The snake user never got to close her pouch as she heard Hinata let out a battle cry. The approaching Hyuga came falling down with her right hand leading, preparing to nick her opponent with a Juken (Gentle Fist) strike. This attempt failed however, and the woman merely sidestepped the blow, only sparing the female Hyuga a momentary glance.

Hinata retracted her hand, and in immediate succession, drew another blow with her left hand this time. This blow was going for the Kusa kunoichi's face.

Said kunoichi parried the blow before grasping Hinata's wrist with her hand. She heaved, pulling the shy girl closer to her. She placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder, twisting her body around so she had her back turned.

Hinata let out a yelp as she found her left hand restrained and behind her back. She also felt the hand of her enemy holding her right wrist. And feeling how cold it was sent shivers down her spine.

"Hinata! Damn it!" Sasuke cursed under his breath, preparing to make his move. However, he froze up again when he saw the woman restraining Hinata give him a look that had the words 'You're the main course' spilled all over it.

 _Damn it… What am I doing?! Why am I so scared…_

Hinata whimpered like a dog, tears coming to her eyes as she felt something wet make contact with her cheek. The former heiress heard a licking sound coming from the long-tongued woman. Hinata tried her best not to make a reaction, but she failed, and it was showing.

The Kusa Shinobi, like with all of her other victims, took joy in seeing the girl's reaction.

It was then when she remembered something peculiar about the girl…

 _She has the eyes of a Hyuga. And she looks oddly familiar… Could she be…_

"Hiashi-san's daughter, huh?"

Hinata froze. How did this Shinobi from a foreign village know that she was the daughter of Hiashi Hyuga? And even then, she bore a closer resemblance to her mother. One would look at Hinata and Hiashi and not even know they were related. Hanabi took more after their father in appearance than her older sister did.

"Your mother was too good for Hiashi-San, frankly. I don't see the two getting along. Perhaps that is what happened…"

"Wh-What are you t-talking about? M-My mother's dead."

"You are right. What would I know?" The Shinobi retracted her previous statement, yet it was still engrained in the young girl's mind. Her thoughts were interrupted by receiving another lick on the cheek, leaving the area moist.

 _No… I am being a burden… Just like with what happened in Nami no Kuni with Zabuza! I must do something!_ More veins sprouted around Hinata's eyes as she closed them and began to focus on channelling her Chakra to her backside.

 _Come on Hinata, you've been trying to master this technique by yourself ever since you graduated!_

She shot open her eyes, this was the first time she had to use the technique in actual battle, but she had to try something.

"Juukenho: Ichigekishin (Gentle Fist Art: Body Blow)!"

The Hyuga user could practically feel the Chakra rush out of her body, colliding with the yellow and black-clothed Shinobi. Hinata was surprised to hear a cry of shock come from her opponent followed by the feeling of the woman letting go of the girl's hands.

Sasuke mouthed the words 'What the hell' as he saw the woman stepping away from Hinata, hissing out of pain. However, it looked more like a look of irritation than genuine agony.

Hinata quickly turned around, lunging for the snake user's pouch, seeing it slightly open with the stolen scroll sticking out. As the snake-like Shinobi was recovering from Hinata's technique, the Hyuga reached out and grabbed the scroll before quickly retreating.

The lone woman finally had recovered, and she was slightly furious. Furious that she had let her guard down, and furious that she had let a mere Genin do that to her in the first place.

However, she couldn't help but laugh at the same time.

"It seems you're not as weak as I took you for, little Hyuga." The woman drooled, hearing her voice, the pupil-less kunoichi chucked the scroll as hard as she could.

The clattering of the scroll against the wood as it fell into the depths of the Forest of Death could be heard. It was no problem, if they made it out of the battle alive, then Hinata could easily search for the scroll with her Byakugan. It was all happening so fast, she had no time to think things through. However, she couldn't deny that she was a little bit proud of her actions.

Her silent celebrations were cut short by a kunai whizzing by. Hinata slowed slightly as she felt the tip of the kunai graze her cheek, spilling blood.

The female member of Team 7 felt the chilling presence of the enemy behind her. She had no time to react as she was grabbed by the hood of her jacket. She flailed around, trying to hit the woman to escape, but to no avail.

Hinata tried once again to use the Body Blow technique, but she failed at that also. She had exhausted her Chakra from the looks of it, and that was her first time using it in battle as well. The fact that she managed to use the move under such a tight situation was nothing more than luck.

While all of this was going on, Sasuke was staring aimlessly at the sky, fear practically showing all over his body. He had this feeling… It felt very familiar and unsettling to him. And soon, he found himself replaying the words he had heard on the night that had changed his life forever.

" _Foolish little brother… If you want to kill me… hate me! Detest me! And continue to live in a long and insightful manner…"_

 _No…_

" _Run… Run… and cling to your pitiful life."_

 _No!_

" _Then… one day, when you have the same eyes as I do… come before me!"_

"NO!" Sasuke glared at the enemy, a new fire burning in his eyes. His black eyes turned into the two tomoe Sharingan as he jumped off his branch towards Hinata and her attacker.

He threw a kunai towards the snake-like woman. She was about to use Hinata as a dummy to take the attack, but the girl had chosen at that moment to take out her own kunai and cut the hood of her jacket right off, escaping from her grasp.

So, the Kusa Shinobi had no choice but to shuffle to her left. Sasuke landed where she was before moving and immediately taking a backwards hop to Hinata.

 _As expected of the Uchiha Clan… His blood has begun to stir. I shall take my time to study his full power._

The young prodigy took out another kunai and held the blade in his mouth, clenching his teeth hard so the kunai wouldn't fall out.

"Sasuke-kun…" Hinata murmured out of surprise.

"Stand back! Let me take care of this!" The Uchiha responded, shrugging off the rest of her statement, knowing that she would want to help.

"But-"

"Go get Naruto and make sure he's safe. Haha…" Sasuke couldn't help but grin with the kunai in his mouth, "It seems the idiot was right. I was acting like a coward. I have to live through this, so I can kill my older brother. How can I beat him, if I cannot even put my life on the line in a place like this!"

And with that, the raven-haired boy rushed into battle alone.

* * *

 **Later**

"AUGH! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Came Sasuke's scream as he gripped the area where he was bitten. Blood ran down the side of his neck as he felt a searing pain trying to tear away at him.

"Sasuke-kun!" Hinata jumped to her screaming teammate, crouching down next to him out of concern. She turned to the person who had bit him, "W-what did you do to him?"

"Something you won't have to worry about." The man, Orochimaru, responded, "But now, my dear Sasuke-kun will soon come after me in pursuit of power. Power that he could only dream of. Power that can help him fulfill his dream."

The young kunoichi simply cowered, not making a move. It turns out, that the woman they were facing the entire time was actually the male snake user of the Sannin in disguise. She had read about the Legendary Sannin in her time at the Academy. This was Orochimaru, a former Konoha Shinobi who had defected from the village long ago.

Yet here he was.

Hinata was sure that she was going to die in a second. However, to her surprise, the Sannin member had left. She activated her Byakugan to see that the rogue ninja was still moving away.

That didn't help with anything though. That was because Hinata at that moment remembered something.

Naruto was unconscious, and Sasuke had just passed out in her arms.

She was alone…

* * *

 **Alright! Alright! I've got some explaining to do!**

 **Now, for those who may have gotten inpatient (if there were none then you guys are awesome), but keep in mind some things keep us preoccupied and we can't control those things, whether it would be education, suddenly important events, blah blah blah blah blah you know the you know the drill.**

 **Don't worry, despite the potential gaps between updates it doesn't mean I'm abandoning the fic. No matter how long, I will not discontinue the fic out of nowhere. If O were to discontinue the fic, I would probably post a chapter saying such a thing and stating my reasons why. This also goes for in the circumstances that I would put this fic on a hiatus. Of course, when I do one of these two things, I will put either 'On Hiatus' or ''Discontinued' in the summary for this fic.**

 **Now of course, should something happen, like for example, the potential of me dying ornsonethor as drastic as that, then that means I won't out up an update. So, I will say this, if at any point I haven't updated the fic in over a year without notifying you guys of a Hiatus or Discontinuation, then it would be safe to assume that I am dead, as dark as it may sound. But, we're all human, death is a possibility.**

 **Anyways with that little rant out of the way I will close this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Fun Fact: The first part of Orochimaru's name 'Orochi' means 'Great Snake', hence the title of the chapter.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	13. Hinata and Team 8

Two days have passed since the battle with the snake Sannin, Orochimaru. The same man who betrayed Konoha long ago. For reasons Hinata didn't know, the pale-skinned man was very interested in Sasuke. He even went as far as biting the boy and giving him what Hinata could assume would be a Curse Mark of some sort.

Whatever he did to both Sasuke _and_ Naruto, it had left them out of the game for two days. Hinata couldn't just leave the bodies of her unconscious teammates alone where anyone could attack and kill them. That was essentially the equivalent of abandoning your comrades, leaving them unconscious with no protection.

"Ugh…" The shy girl groaned, pressing down on the side of her hand. She didn't know how long, but for most of the duration that she was watching her teammates, she had her Byakugan activated, and the strain was definitely getting to her.

She couldn't just deactivate it, as that was her only way of telling if an enemy was nearby. Plus, numerous times she has seen other Shinobi enter her field of vision. Some were actually coming really close to the area she was currently in.

It could have just been sleepiness getting to the lavender-eyed kunoichi, but she could have sworn that out of all the ninja she has seen enter her field of vision, the Chakra signatures of three Shinobi in particular had entered her vision the most, along with traveling the closest in Hinata's general area.

Hinata let out a long yawn before slapping herself firmly with both hands, _Not now, Hinata! Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun are counting on you to hold out until they wake up!_

The preteen flinched when she heard another small moan of pain coming from her Uchiha teammate. Naruto, on the other hand, made no sound whatsoever. If Hinata didn't see the events transpiring to Naruto's current state, she would believe that the blond was fast asleep.

Unfortunately, the raven-haired rival of the Uzumaki was not so lucky for a quiet rest. He would let out small, almost inaudible cries of pain from time to time. Hinata didn't know what to do. Once again, she felt useless. Had she done more, Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be like this. For all she knew, they could be out cold for the rest of the five days, causing them to fail.

"AHH!" Hinata let out a startled wail as she covered her eyes with her hands in order to ease the searing pain that formed in the area. She could feel her extended vision distorting before seeing only darkness. She felt the veins around her eyes retract.

The pain eventually ceased, and soon enough Hinata let her eyes see the light once again.

She started forming the hand signs to activate the Byakugan once again. However, when she recited the name of the dojutsu, the Hyuga was surprised to find nothing happening.

 _I used up all of my Chakra to keep the Byakugan activated…_ Hinata concluded at her current disability. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a problem. She would just have to wait for her to regain Chakra and she will then be able to use the Kekkei Genkai again.

The problem was… this was not one of those circumstances.

The last thing Hinata needed was her Byakugan failing on her due to the strain it deals on her eyes. And the former heiress had used it so much, that it would take a while for her Chakra to be replenished.

Hinata was alone with no cover. Without her Byakugan to scout and read movements and attacks, she was practically useless. She was lucky that she made it two full days without seeing anyone.

Unfortunately, her gut gave her the feeling that trouble was on the way. And it also didn't help that her stomach also occasionally let out a loud gurgling sound. It would get progressively worse and harder to resist the temptations of hunger.

Since the first day, Hinata hadn't moved from her shift. The only time she did was to set up traps and get water.

She was sure that the water was dirty, so she used some sticks to make a fire to boil it, all the while keeping a lookout for enemies.

Oh, how easy making the fire would have been if Sasuke was up and awake. The young Uchiha could light up a fire with some kind of Katon Jutsu.

And if Naruto were awake, he could have had used his clones to scout the places out of the Byakugan's line of sight.

But both of her teammates were unconscious now. She hardly interacted with any of her graduating classmates, she was sure that trying to get them to help her was not going to work out. Then there was the prospect of, even if she did go out to look for them, Naruto and Sasuke could get attacked.

Plus, what's to stop her former classmates from defeating her and taking the scroll. Since Hinata was alone, putting up a fight against a squad of three was next to impossible. She was nowhere near as strong as people like Kakashi or Zabuza!

The indigo-haired girl stretched out her mouth, separating her lips and letting out a long sound.

Oh yeah, there was also the problem of sleep.

She hadn't slept in two days. And no one had decided to attack during the span of those days.

Surely nothing will happen if she were to just…

The young girl found long, heavy snores escape her lips, followed by the darkness that slowly spread across her vision, before blocking her line of sight completely.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

A kunai stuck into the dirt of the earth marked the rendezvous point for the three members of Team Guy. Lee arrived first, particularity out of habit due to coming to all of Guy's training sessions either early or on time.

A habit which was definitely forced onto him due to his infatuation with the spandex wearing Jonin.

Not long after Tenten arrived next, followed by Neji.

"Find anyone?" Neji asked with a toneless voice.

He sighed when he saw Tenten and Lee shake their heads. Neji himself had seen Team 10 earlier, but they were not worth being defeated for the scroll. Plus, before he left the three, he used his Byakugan and saw that the team had a Heaven Scroll anyway, the same one his team had.

While it seemed like a good idea to get rid of competition, Neji didn't see the current generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho combination as a threat.

Neji's thoughts stopped abruptly when a bad feeling formed in the pit of his stomach. Reacting quickly, he held up a hand and activated his Byakugan. The prodigy of the Hyuga silently thanked himself for following his instinct, as he could see the Chakra signatures of three people surrounding them.

He and his team were in the middle of a trap.

"Move! Now!" Neji commanded his team, with all of them dodging kunai that were thrown right at that moment. They each looked in the direction of where one kunai came from. It seemed that all three members of their opposing team had thrown one kunai.

Neji couldn't help but smirk at the poor soul sitting on the branch near him. He stood no chance against a prodigy like him.

"Your destiny is to lie on the ground at my feet, defeated." The long-haired brunet raised his voice for his opponent to hear, running to the tree closest to him.

Neji pushed some Chakra to his feet. He launched himself into the air as he felt the wind blow his long hair around. He held his hand out, grabbing the nearest branch and lifting himself on top of it.

Immediately sensing an attack from his unknown enemy, he spun around emitting Chakra from every tenketsu in his body.

"Hakkesho Kaiten (Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation)!" The young Hyuga yelled as he repelled his enemy's attack, sending him flying back into the bark of the tree hard. The opposing Genin let out a cry of pain as he spat out blood due to the force of the impact with the tree.

As Neji stopped spinning, he faced his opponent, narrowing his eyes, "You are now in my range." And with that statement, he closed his eyes, holding up two fingers as he did so. After, he took a stance differing from the usual Gentle Fist posture, facing his opponent. "Juukenho: Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho (Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams 64 Palms)!"

In one swift spinning motion, the lavender-eyed rookie now had his enemy cornered at the tree's trunk, preparing to unleash his assault. The genius from the side branch used his fingers to pierce and shut down two of the tenketsu inside his opponent.

"Hakke Nisho!"

Neji continued to jab at different areas of his opponent with swift finger thrusts, with each hit shutting down a tenketsu of the Chakra Network.

"Yonsho! Hachisho! Juurokusho! Sanjuunisho!"

Taking one last strong step forward, the prodigy finished the last of his strikes. Each time his fingers made contact, his opponent would be knocked back hard into the tree as he was backed right up against the tree. Noticeably, the bark of the tree was beginning to crack.

"Rokujuuyonsho!"

As Neji finished, a body-shaped hole in the tree had formed. The Genin that he had fought got blown through the bark and fell to the ground hard, losing consciousness in it all.

Meanwhile, Rock Lee easily dispatched of his opponent.

Lee threw some aggressive yet medium speed punches. His enemy managed to block most of the strikes while shrugging of the attacks that made contact with him.

Might Guy's favorite student had to give this fellow Genin credit, he was fast enough to be able to block these punches. Albeit, someone like Sasuke Uchiha would still be able to beat this guy.

What really turned the tide of the battle into Lee's favor was when the green spandex beast began to speed up his punches. His jabs and crosses were easily breaking through his adversary's guard. Eventually, he went down with a few hard strikes followed by some kicks.

When his battle was all said and done, Lee screamed "YOOOOOUUUUUUUTH!" to the heavens.

Last but not least, Tenten was face to face with a red-haired girl wearing glasses and a Kusagakure headband. The weapons specialist whipped out a scroll and began to twirl it around her body. She began to speed up the speed of twirls, eventually beginning to spin herself in a similar manner to Neji's Kaiten.

In fast succession, the brunette kunoichi grabbed any sort of weapon that appeared in front of her free hand from the Sealing Scroll and threw each one at her female opponent as quickly as they appeared.

The red-haired Genin made a squeaking sound of fear, jumping around to make sure that she wouldn't be hit by any of the weapons as most of them were pretty sharp.

Unfortunately for Tenten's female opponent, she wasn't able to avoid all of them. She got cut in different areas of her body from different sharp weapons and she let out a cry of pain when she felt a kunai dig into her shoulder. She looked on in fear as another one came flying right for her face.

She reacted quickly, dipping into her pouch with her good arm. The Kusa kunoichi pulled out a kunai and used it to smack away the approaching weapon. The onstream of weapons stopped. Tenten then ran towards the red-haired female, throwing her scroll and wrapping her opponent up with it, restricting her movements.

The ninja from Kusa struggled and grunted as she tried to break the scroll. However, she had to hold back a hiss because every time she made a sudden move with her right arm, a sharp pain would form in her shoulder thanks to the kunai. And with each passing second, more blood would spew out of the girl's wound.

Tenten took a step closer to the Kusa Shinobi, twirling a kunai in her hand with a hint of a cocky smirk on her face.

"Now, tell me and do the both of us a favor, which one of you guys have the scroll?" Tenten questioned her captured and defeated opponent.

Not surprised at all by the silence she received, the weapons user sighed. She turned around when she heard the footsteps of one of her teammates. She saw Neji with a scroll in his hands, an emotionless expression on his face as usual.

Tenten examined the scroll in her Hyuga teammate's hands. They started with a Heaven Scroll. They lucked out, because the one Neji retrieved from the enemy is an Earth Scroll. The female Genin couldn't help but smile.

"With this, we can go towards the middle."

"Wait." The young Hyuga spoke suddenly, much to the surprise of their teammates, as he was the quietest and reserved out of all of them. "Let us make a small detour."

"What for?"

Neji lead the way, interested in how the person he could see with his Byakugan was doing. There was no doubt that she would be struggling. After all, …

She was an indecisive failure.

* * *

 **With Hinata**

The sun's rays flowed down on the forest, a presage for something good that was going to happen...

"I rested great!" The voice of Hinata's blond-haired teammate forced her to open her eyes to see if she was just imagining things. To her relief, she wasn't. This was actually happening. Naruto was stretching out his arms, having just woken up.

Not long after, Sasuke also awakened, sitting upright as he looked at the surrounding area before directing his attention to his teammates.

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun! Thank goodness you two are okay!" Hinata smiled, wiping away the tears that momentarily appeared in her eyes.

After making sure that her teammates were okay, Hinata proceeded to blank out. She paid no heed to whatever Naruto and Sasuke were conversing about at the moment. No, she couldn't do that when she noticed something very peculiar. Very peculiar indeed.

From what she had remembered, Orochimaru had bitten Sasuke and given him some kind of Curse Mark. And she could have sworn that it was still there even when the Uchiha was unconscious. Yet, right now, the mark was gone.

Hinata froze up on the spot, feeling a chilling sensation roll down her spine. She had a bad feeling for some reason. She turned her head to her right where she saw the familiar, frightening figure of Orochimaru standing there, a lustful smile on his face.

Then, in a similar manner to what happened in the fight, the evil Sannin's head literally sprung out of place and slithered towards the group like a snake.

The reason it slithered like one was because the head actually transformed into a long snake. It's black eyes void of emotion other than desire. A desire for a certain Uchiha.

Hinata tried to warn her teammates, but for some reason, she couldn't hear her voice, even though her mouth was moving as if she was talking. It was like someone had used a mute button on her and no one would be able to hear her because of it.

She looked back at the serpent, which was lunging for her raven-haired comrade, opening its mouth wide.

 _No!_

Hinata tried to move but found that she was practically glued into place. Similar to how she and her teammates froze up from Orochimaru's killing intent when they first met.

She saw the mouth of the reptile closing in slow motion, attempting to chomp Sasuke's head off. When suddenly…

 _BOOM!_

A ferocious kick from Naruto sent the serpent flying into a nearby tree, saving the targeted Uchiha.

Hinata found herself moving to her crush. Orochimaru had done something to him in the fight, he shouldn't be pushing himself so hard, she had thought.

This time, her voice was unmuted, "Naruto-kun p-ugh!"

The young Hyuga never got to finish her sentence, as the next thing she knew, Naruto's hand was wrapped around her throat, holding her up. She grabbed his hand, trying to pry it off.

"Ahh! N-Naruto-kun… Please… stop… you're hurting me… AHHHH!" She cried out in pain as Naruto let out a roar, tightening his grip on the bluenette's throat. It was unbearable. It was as if she was being burned alive!

While trying to endure the pain, Hinata couldn't help but notice the loud feral noises the blond was making. And the noises would only get louder.

And louder.

And louder.

And even louder.

So loud to the point that it hurt the young girl's ears. She looked at Naruto with a pleading look in her eyes. However, that look would soon be replaced by one of shock and fear when she saw his red eyes, surrounded by an orange cloak of some sort.

The jinchuriki lifted his free hand. Hinata could hear the sound of nails sharpening. She paled, knowing what this beast that she couldn't even call Naruto was going to do.

"Naruto-kun… Stop…"

" **RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!** "

With one final feral roar, Naruto pounced, and Hinata jumped out of her sleep letting out a blood-curdling scream. She frantically crossed her arms in a fetal position, shutting her eyes, hoping that the darkness would offer her refuge and shelter.

She then listened to hear… nothing.

Nothing except the chirping of nearby the forest life and the crackling of the fire she made from scratch.

She dared herself to open one eye, and then, when she had the courage do so, the lavender-eyed girl opened her other eye. She looked at Naruto and Sasuke, only to see that the two were still unconscious.

 _I fell asleep…_ The former Hyuga heiress concluded, silently chiding herself for letting her guard down when her teammates needed her most. _How long was I out?_

She didn't think it was for very long, as there was still a decent amount of light outside. And Hinata herself still felt the fatigue of staying up and guarding for two straight days.

She sharpened her gaze at her teammates, the fire in her eyes still burning brightly despite how tired she was, _No matter what! I must protect these two! Just like how they've protected me._

The pupil-less kunoichi closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling slightly refreshed from the small rest she took.

She looked down at her blond teammate's face, unable to erase the image of what she saw in her head. He seemed to be in a state of rage. Not only that, but he was surrounded by that same, familiar orange Chakra from that time they were in the Land of Waves and recently when they were against Orochimaru.

It was then that she remembered how people typically looked at Naruto, no matter where he went. Could it possibly had something to do with the weird Chakra?

The possibilities… high.

Other than huge Chakra reserves, which is both good and bad, what did Naruto have that sets him apart from others?

The orange Chakra, the voice in Hinata's head spoke for her.

All she knew, was that the Naruto she saw in the dream, was _not_ the one that she had learned to know. Far from it.

There was only hate in those red eyes. Hate. Resentment. And others of the sort. There was no strong-will to keep going forward. No positive attitude that kept him from crying.

No trace of the boy she admired.

Which made her think… could that orange Chakra be raised by rage? If so, then could it be hatred directed towards the people who ostracized him for his entire life? If that was the case, then Hinata herself had no right to berate the people who look down on Naruto…

After all, what did _she_ do to help him?

That's right. Absolutely nothing, as usual.

She already conveyed her guilt to Naruto when they were in the Land of Waves. He shook it off and said it was alright, but Hinata knew better. Deep down, Naruto resented her for not approaching him for all of those years…

She snapped her attention to the problem at hand. She had been slacking on what she _should_ be doing instead of dwelling on the past.

Once again getting to work, she began to fulfill her duty as lookout with the bulging of her veins.

And it was a good thing that she activated the Byakugan at that time… and maybe a bad thing as well…

Because she picked up the presence of three people to her left. She whipped out a kunai and forced her body to the left, only to see the three not far in front of her.

 _How fast…_

She was so focused on what was in front of her that she never paid attention to the other six people, separated into groups of three each, in her field of vision, approaching the site where she currently was.

"Hello there." The male with one of his eyes covered greeted in a nonchalant manner.

She narrowed her eyes when she recognized the three as the Otogakure (Sound Village) Shinobi that attacked Kabuto before the first round of the exams.

"You three must be affiliated with Orochimaru." Hinata deduced out loud for the three to hear, much to their surprise.

They quickly shook away their shock and continued as if nothing happened at all.

"Now, now. If you'd be a good girl and give us the Uchiha, then I won't make you and the blond pin cushions." The only female of the Sound ninja proposed to Hinata.

"Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum!" Hinata pulled a quote from her sensei's handbook, "I may be an indecisive failure! But I won't ever turn over one of my dear comrades to the likes of you!"

"Oh?" The last one of the three stepped forward with a cocky smile on his face, "Big words coming from a tiny little ant. Insects like you should just mind your own business and lie on the ground playing dead! Oi! Dosu, Kin, I changed my mind. I want to kill the girl and the blond as well."

"Wait, Zaku." The male now known as Dosu raised up a hand as a signal for his teammate to halt.

Zaku gave his teammate a vexing look. "What is it?"

"Who knows what she has set up. For all we know, this is a trap. We attack together." At this announcement, all three members of the team leaped into the air, pushing off the ground in order to get a boost.

Hinata's lips curved into a small smile as she cut the string attached to another kunai, setting off her trap. A big log came swinging down on the three.

They looked at it as if it was a bug. Nothing to worry about at all.

The next thing the shy girl knew, her trap was destroyed by Dosu simply placing his hand on the incoming log.

Dosu couldn't help but smirk under his mask after seeing the look of shock on the girl's face, followed by the look of fear. He relished it just like how Orochimaru relishes the fear and terror of his victims.

Both he and Zaku threw out their hands, aiming them at Hinata. Meanwhile, Kin reached into her pouch and pulled out some senbon.

"With this, it's over!"

* * *

 **Nearby-In Another Part of the Forest**

"Take this!" Kiba cried out as he kicked his enemy up into the air. He bent down on all fours and let a transformed Akamaru leap off of him to deliver a devastating blow to the ninja's stomach.

The opponent slammed down onto the grass hard, his body aching due to the hard impact.

Kiba grinned, petting Akamaru as he turned back into his dog form. "Nice job, boy."

Ever since the C-ranked joint mission with the Suna (Sand) Shinobi, Team 8 worked their hardest to make sure no casualties would occur.

They all improved. However, the one who showed the most change was Sakura. Not only did she cut her hair so it wouldn't get in the way as much, but she took private lessons with Kurenai as well, along with building up relations with the team to strengthen their teamwork.

As she delved further into her Shinobi career, Sakura began to notice just how important teamwork was. Whenever you're in a tight spot it is imperative to have someone you can trust next to you at all times.

And as they spent more time together, the civilian girl began to tolerate her teammates. Shino wasn't as weird as she thought he was. The boy just had his own way of expressing his feelings compared to others.

In some ways, it could be comparable to Sasuke's usual demeanor. However, Shino is much easier to approach than her crush, Sakura would soon find out.

And for not having any eye-enhancing dojutsu like the Byakugan or Sharingan, the Aburame had damn good analytical skills and was very proficient in the field.

In Sakura's book, Shino is very adaptable, skilled, trustworthy, and an all-around good Shinobi.

"It is an Earth Scroll." The bug user stated with a monotone voice after checking the third group that they have fought. Truth be told, he was getting a little frustrated, but he refused to show signs of him losing his cool in front of his team. But thankfully, they got the scroll they needed, so there was a hint of relief in his usually emotionless voice.

 _*Sniff* *Sniff*_

Sakura and Shino turned to Kiba and his ninken, hearing them sniffing out a nearby scent. Actually…

"I smell six people about 2 o'clock." He said, pointing in the direction he specified.

"Is there anyone you can recognize?" Sakura asked him. He gave a nod in response.

"I can identify three of them. It's Team 7."

Team 8, like the other teams, took the liberty of remembering who from their graduating class was in what team. So, they knew who the members were.

Kiba formed a fist with his hand, "I say we hide near the fight. Then, when all is said and done, we swoop in and take out the victor and take their scroll so they can't advance!"

Kiba was just about to jump towards the action, only for Shino to place a hand on his shoulder in a forceful manner.

"What?" The Inuzuka asked with slight irritation.

"Three of the people fighting are from our village. Should they win, I wouldn't want to put any bad blood between us. Why? Because there is no need. We have our scrolls and fighting another enemy just risks losing that scroll."

"Huh?!" Kiba voice out of exasperation.

Shino's eyebrows dipped slightly, "As of this stage, we are still comrades. Fellow ninja of Konoha. To betray a comrade is blasphemy, and you would then be renowned as a traitor."

The Aburame was going to keep going on, but Kiba silenced him, not wanting a complicated explanation that's beyond comprehension, something that the bug user had a bad habit of doing. And the ninken owner _still_ hasn't gotten used to it.

Kiba didn't dare say that they were in an exam, it was okay to fight them as long as they didn't kill them. They were from the same village after all.

He sniffed once again, widening his eyes when he remembered the scent of the other three people. No doubt about it. It was the same people who attacked Kabuto before the first test.

"Otogakure…" Akamaru whimpered following his owner's statement.

"We have no time to waste!" Sakura exclaimed as she jumped high off the ground, making her way over to the fight, much to her teammates' surprise.

"Hold on, Sakura!"

* * *

 **With Hinata**

Hinata swiped the kunai in her hand across the air, knocking away any senbon thrown at her by Kin. She was already aware of its capabilities thanks to Haku and Kakashi's explanation as well.

At best, they hinder someone's movements, and only with precise aim can they really become life threatening. And from the looks of those throws, Kin was nowhere near on the level of skill that Haku was.

"AHH!" Hinata cried out, her Byakugan once again deactivating due to overuse.

 _How long was I asleep for?!_ Hinata wondered. She figured that it was for a couple of hours and that she could use the Byakugan for a couple minutes at best, but apparently it wasn't as long as she thought it was.

She jumped backwards, avoiding both Zaku and Dosu before chucking the kunai at the former.

Zaku merely grinned, holding only one hand out and applying pressure to his palms. Gusts of air pressure burst out of the little holes in his hands, blowing the weapon away.

Hinata's ears perked up at the sound of the jingling of a bell. She leaned to the right, dodging a senbon. There was something about them that Hinata found peculiar.

 _One of them has a bell, while the other one doesn't… That's an old trick by the books. Even fresh Genin with enough attention could see through this…_ Hinata noted as the thrown senbon needles landed on the bark of a nearby tree.

What caught the indigo-haired girl off guard, however, was the familiar jingling of the same bell coming _from_ that tree, done probably by Kin using string attached to the weapon. Typical human reactions couldn't help but make Hinata turn to the tree, where she was easily left open for Kin to snipe her in the arm with three more needles.

The lavender-eyed kunoichi grimaced, taking deep breaths as she looked at the thrown objects in her arm. As she expected, the aiming was far off from a vital spot. However, she soon realized the purpose of that attack too late…

To distract her.

The next thing she knew, Dosu was right in front of her, slamming his right hand to her left ear and using his ability. He amplified the sounds generated from his arm's movements and in mid-air, directed them into Hinata's ear. The girl did her best to cover her ears, but it was to no avail.

The sound was too loud, and the next thing she knew, Hinata's mouth was wide open with a loud yell coming out of it. With no other option, she thrusted her knee into the enemy's stomach, expelling his breath for a moment and causing him to halt his attack.

While Dosu was catching his breath, Hinata took the initiative. Grabbing one of his arms and forcing off the metal gauntlet, she threw it far away, enhancing the power of her throw using Chakra to do so with what little strength she had left.

Hinata smiled, whatever he tried to do to her, it didn't work.

Or so she thought…

Before her brain could comprehend what was happening next, Hinata began to stagger, almost falling to the ground. She felt very dizzy, and she was starting to feel a little nauseous in the pit of her stomach. Then, if that wasn't enough to tell her that something was wrong, there was the blood that was running out of her left ear.

"Wh-What… did you do?" She managed to blurt out.

Dosu began to chuckle as Kin threw six more senbon needles, two on Hinata's left arm and the rest on the other, causing the Hyuga to reel back and fall onto the ground, adding to the excruciating pain.

The female Sound ninja walked over to Hinata and grabbed her by the collar of her cream-colored jacket.

The main branch member slowly tilted her head to face Kin, opening an eye, only to see multiple images of her standing in front of her. She didn't know which one was the real one, and she was more nauseous than a few seconds ago.

 _Could it be… Genjutsu?_ Hinata thought to herself.

Seeing the expression on their victim's face, both Dosu and Kin began to elaborate.

Dosu spoke first, "You see, the metal device on my arm is for the sole purpose of amplifying the sound of arm movements. What I just did was use sound waves to assault your eardrum and even better, the canal located even deeper into the ear. Attacking this canal can make you lose complete balance…"

"Right. And my ability," Kin added with a smug smile, "Deals with the ringing of those bells on the senbon. The sound produced messes with your brain and causes you to hallucinate. Long story short, you don't stand a chance against us, _princess_!"

How the bluenette was still conscious was a mystery to her. However, any fatigue that she had lost due to her short sleep came back and hit her like a truck full force due to the nausea she was feeling lurching in her stomach.

Kin took further advantage of that and decided to take her time killing the Hyuga.

She slapped Hinata across the face before balling her hand into a fist, slugging her hard in the stomach.

"GAH!" The indigo-haired kunoichi gasped out of pain, spitting out blood while her legs convulsed as she tried to catch her breath. Her arms went limp, dropping to her sides as she could feel darkness creeping at the edge of her vision.

However, the darkness disappeared when she felt Kin connect another punch to her stomach, causing her to pitch her body forward as an instant reflex, this time holding back the urge to spit out blood.

The Sound kunoichi gave Hinata one last knee to the abdomen before dropping her body face first onto the ground, where she forced the younger girl's head into the dirt and began to kick her in the stomach ruthlessly.

Dosu merely watched with a neutral expression on his face while Zaku grinned at seeing the female member of Team 7 being beaten into the ground.

While all of this was happening, Hinata, who was trying her best to stay conscious, reflected on her past failures. In their sparring matches, despite holding back for her benefit, Hinata would get beaten by her sister Hanabi, thus making her father view her as a failure.

Soon, the whole clan viewed her that way.

She made no long-lasting bonds at the Academy and she was the weak link of the team. Practically useless and contributing absolutely nothing. Naruto and Sasuke were already walking ahead of her when they first became a team. And as time went, they got further and further away from her, while she just stood there and watched.

All she did was admire Naruto. She never had the guts to catch up to him… and walk beside him…

She felt like giving up after these reflections, thinking that there was nothing she could offer to make anyone's world better now…

Unbeknownst to Hinata, in two different positions, Team Guy and Team 8, having just arrived at the scene, were witnessing Hinata getting kicked for about the tenth time, followed by another cry of pain and vomiting of blood.

Lee, was completely on the edge, wanting all but nothing to jump in and help. However, he couldn't do anything as Neji had him restrained by both arms. The prodigy gave his female teammate a menacing glare that made her not even think about interfering.

From what they could tell, the branch member wanted to see what Hinata could do by herself. To see if she, by his own terms, had managed to change her 'destiny'. Either that or he was taking joy in seeing his own cousin being beaten mercilessly in front of him.

Team 8, meanwhile, were waiting for the absolute perfect chance to strike. They were waiting for Shino's signal, as he was sending out his kikaichu to surround the team of Sound ninja. Of course, it took a little bit of time, so for this reason they were waiting.

Kiba could practically smell the anxiety coming off of Sakura. No doubt that she feared for Sasuke's life.

He, on the other hand, was more concerned about Hinata and really only her, as she was the one fighting and he didn't really like or care about her teammates.

The ninken owner didn't even want to ask Shino about his view on the matter. Chances are the Aburame would give a five-paragraph essay on his views on what they should do and why they should do it.

"Enough messing around, Kin." Dosu spoke, after witnessing said teammate kick the shy girl on the ground the hardest she has so far, causing her to widen her eyes out of alarming pain as she tried to let out a sound with her mouth, only to release a croaking noise. "Finish her off. Zaku, kill the blond. Then, we will make haste with containing the Uchiha."

Kin froze mid kick, letting out a disappointed sigh. "You're such a party pooper. Alright then…" She turned back to her pretty beat up victim, who was supporting her body with just her chin.

She was also noticeably trying to move her arms as well, yet the searing pain caused by the punches and kicks along with the senbon in her arms made it difficult.

For a moment, the violent kunoichi lost all composure she had at the moment, "How are you still moving?! At the state you are in you won't be able to throw a single strike."

The bruised girl clenched her eyes shut. She couldn't fail her comrades now, especially not when they weren't even able to defend themselves in the unconscious state they're in. She inhaled sharply. Hinata had to protect Naruto and Sasuke, her comrades, the people she has grown to care about during the last few weeks. Despite living her life being claimed as one by her own clan, failure was _not_ an option here.

Finding solace in the thought of her comrades, the shy Hyuga exhaled the breath she was holding, narrowing her brows together and reopening her eyes, revealing a determined expression on her face. Having gained new found strength, she dug her left hand into the dirt, grabbing a handful of mud. With her other hand, she forced her body up while chucking the dirt she had into her attacker's face, much to the latter's shock.

Seconds later, the power in Hinata's legs returned as she took off running. While she sprinted, she began to remove the senbon in her arms. She hissed and winced each time a bolt of pain rushed through her body, but she endured and soon enough her body was senbon free.

The bluenette looked down at her hands, which were now stained with blood and mud, she curled her fingers, silently telling herself that she could do it.

She held up two fingers, as opposed to the numerous hand signs that she normally performed, whispering the name of her dojutsu. Her eyes widened with a new fire as the veins bulged around her eyes, with the amount of veins seen on her face slightly increasing. The recovered Hyuga skid to a halt to face her three enemies, closing her eyes and focusing hard on all three of their bodies.

Hinata couldn't help but smile when she saw a miraculous sight, the multiple tenketsu running throughout the Chakra Network of the Sound Shinobi. Her Byakugan has finally evolved to the stage where she could see the tenketsu.

 _I need to give this a shot!_ Hinata thought to herself with a determined look as she locked eyes with the nearest person on Team Dosu, who just so happened to be Dosu himself.

She sunk into a stance different from the usual Gentle Fist stance. Neji recognized it immediately, his eyes narrowing slightly.

 _Could it be that she can see the tenketsu?_

"Juukenho: Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho!"

Unlike Neji, Hinata took a step forward and bent her body downwards to avoid any potential attack launched at her face. Dosu could only watch with wide eyes as Hinata's fingers made contact with two of his tenketsu, shutting them off.

"Hakke Nisho!"

She continued her strikes, mentally proud of herself for using such an advanced move in such a short time. However, that short burst of overconfidence messed her up.

"Yonsho! Hachisho! Juurokusho!"

She hadn't taken into account the speed needed for the strikes, and she was no Neji, who could get down the basis of an attack by merely seeing it a couple of times.

This disadvantage proved detrimental for her when she began her next barrage of attacks up to 32 strikes.

She missed her opponent completely and tripped on her foot, stumbling forward.

This mess up left the hime-cut kunoichi open for Dosu to slug her in the face. She stepped back, feeling blood spew out of her nose, clutching said area and closing her eyes.

Unfortunately, the vision granted to her with the Byakugan, which works even with her eyes closed, was useless as she was too busy dealing with the pain to notice Dosu behind her.

The Orochimaru underling delivered a hard chop to her neck, followed by a kick to the back of her leg which caused Hinata to collapse to the ground.

"ACK!" The girl cried out, her knees hitting the ground hard followed by her hands to support her. If she had paid any attention, she could have noticed Dosu sweating heavily, startled from the girl's sudden surge in power and determination.

Neji closed his eyes and let a 'hmph' that spilled the words 'I wouldn't expect anything less from a failure', earning detestable glares from his teammates.

"No! I can't give up!" Hinata shrieked as she delivered a sweeping kick to Dosu's legs, causing the man to lose his footing and to fall on the ground.

The former heiress leaned backwards, dodging incoming senbon from Kin before leaping into the air to dodge a gust of high air pressure from Zaku, who quickly reached into his hip pouch and threw three kunai at the aerial Hinata.

The girl was stabbed by all three of them, causing Zaku to smirk…

Only for a poof of white smoke to reveal a log with three kunai embedded in it.

The smirk on Zaku's face washed away as he looked up to see Hinata crashing down and delivering a Juuken strike to his chest, sending him flying backwards.

Kin came running towards Hinata from her right. Thanks to her Byakugan, the Leaf Shinobi easily read her movements, blocking an oncoming punch with her right hand and delivering a sidekick to Kin's belly. This expelled the raven-haired kunoichi's breath and sent her staggering back.

Hinata dug her hand into her hip pouch and pulled out a kunai, gripping it tightly with both hands and running towards the other kunoichi with it. She thrusted the kunai into her female counterpart's torso.

As an instant reaction, Kin grabbed the weapon with both hands, trying to keep it from going deeper into her body while also trying to push it away.

To her surprise, Hinata released her left hand from the kunai and began to strike at Kin's Chakra Points. She succeeded in hitting six before the Oto ninja pulled away, forcing the kunai away.

She placed her fingers on her fresh wound, feeling blood drip out of it. She flinched as soon as she felt the liquid trickling in her hand. This shock was replaced with anger towards Hinata.

"I'll make you pay for that!"

Hinata responded by sinking deep into the signature Gentle Fist stance.

"To be able to fight all three of them like that! This girl's got some skill…" Tenten complimented. Out of the tip of her eye, the weapons specialist noticed Neji's eyes twitch slightly.

"Alright! The power of youth prevails!" Lee cheered, raising his hand as a victory sign.

"Shut up." The branch member shunned his eccentric teammate, returning his attention to the battle.

Kin turned to her teammates with a frustrated look on her face, "Dosu! Zaku! Get your acts together! We need to stop messing around! It's us three against only her!"

Sweat rolled down Hinata's face. It was at this moment when she finally noticed Team Guy and Team 8 watching.

She frowned at the fact that they weren't helping. Although she did understand why, she was slightly disappointed… and a little pressurized due to their eyes being on her.

And it didn't help that one of the spectators just so happened to be her number one hater. Her older cousin, Neji…

Fortunately, after a few moments, Team 8 proved Hinata wrong…

"Tsuuga (Passing Fang)!" The tumbling body of Kiba Inuzuka came rushing out of the nearby trees, attacking Dosu from behind.

The ninja heard the sound of Kiba spinning in the air. He smirked, turning around and holding up the hand with his metal gauntlet, clashing with the ninken owner's attack.

The damage was significantly lessened. However, the brown-haired ninja still managed to push back Dosu with great force, causing the latter to dig his feet into the ground to resist the push.

Suddenly, Kiba stopped spinning and ducked down to deliver a sweep kick to his opponent's legs. The Sound Shinobi launched himself into the air and readied himself to attack him.

The slit-eyed Inuzuka slipped a hand into his pouch, grasping a hand of shuriken and throwing them all at Dosu, who merely held his hand in front of himself.

Metal met metal, the thrown shuriken collided with Dosu's device strapped on his wrist, only for the throwing stars to be bounced off the gauntlet, much to the Inuzuka's shock.

 _What?! The shuriken has no effect! Then how about this!_

Once again fishing for a weapon in his pouch, he pulled out a kunai this time. He jumped backwards, letting Dosu land on the ground before rushing forward with his kunai hand leading.

Once again, metal hit metal, and the two weapons clashed. In a way, Kiba and Dosu were trapped in a blade lock.

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata voiced out of surprise.

Meanwhile, Kin found herself face to face with the figure of a pink-haired kunoichi named Sakura Haruno.

Sakura threw a slow punch at her female opponent, who easily caught it. The latter smirked as she took out a senbon and stabbed Sakura's throat with it…

Only for Sakura to disappear in a flash of cherry blossom leaves.

"What?! How can this be?! Genjutsu?!" Kin questioned as she looked from left and right, only to see nothing. Finally, she looked up…

Only to be dropped to the ground by the real Sakura, pinning Kin's body with a kunai held to her throat.

"Sakura-san!" Hinata smiled, knowing that Shino was also already here.

The Haruno silently thanked her sensei for teaching her some Genjutsu before the Chunin Exams, as it really helped her as a Shinobi with newfound determination.

It gave someone like her, a civilian, a person not belonging to a clan, something to use to fight alongside clan members.

It made her feel useful.

Sakura placed a knee on Kin's stomach to further restrict the girl's movements. The female Sound kunoichi let out a grunt as she tried to pry the pinkette off of her.

What she didn't expect was the threat that came out of Sakura's mouth.

"Move anymore and I'll slit your throat!"

It sounded so convincing that Kin couldn't tell that it was a bluff, as Sakura had never killed in cold blood before. And even though she knew killing was allowed, there was this certain part of her mind that said that something bad would happen to her if she did it.

Shino, on the other hand, stood in front of Zaku with his hands in his pocket.

"Hah! This will be over in a second!" Zaku proclaimed, driving his foot into the ground and taking off towards the Aburame.

He delivered a hook with his right hand to Shino's head, to which the boy merely held up his arm to block. Zaku retaliated with a punch aimed for the bug user's chest.

This time, the punch was blocked with an open hand.

Zaku smirked, opening his right fist to reveal the air hole in his arm.

"Eat this! Zankuuha (Slicing Sound Wave)!" Air burst at Shino's face, blowing him away and sending him rolling onto the ground. His body stilled, seemingly dead. "Haha! This is what you get for picking a fight with _me_! As long as I fight for Orochimaru-sama, I am strong!"

Sakura and Kiba let out gasps of shock, looking over to their teammate's body, thinking the worst had just happened.

This left Kiba open for Dosu to push forward slightly, causing him to stumble backwards and for the latter to slam his arm into the dog user's ears, leaving him vulnerable to the full extent of the Oto ninja's sound attack.

Speaking of dogs, Akamaru chose that exact moment to intervene. From the trees came the white dog, something the Sound Trio did _not_ expect at all.

Similar to his best friend and owner, Akamaru spun rapidly in the air, turning to Dosu and blitzing. Since the Sound ninja was caught off guard, he took a heavy hit from Kiba's ninken, blowing him away.

"Good boy, Akamaru!"

"You little mutt!" Zaku growled, preparing himself to shoot at the dog, only to hear a voice...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…"

Shino's voice…

"What?!"

Directly behind him.

Zaku turned around, pointing his hand to see that Shino was indeed there, standing to his full length with an indifferent expression on his face.

"You! But how?! That should have taken you out for the count!" The Orochimaru underling bellowed, raising his arms to defend himself, stealing a glance at where Shino's body was, only to see that it was still there.

Then, as soon as he laid his eyes on it, the body began to sink… as if it was rapidly decomposing or… deconstructing?

"Mushi Bunshin no Jutsu (Insect Clone Jutsu)." Shino clarified, "A variation of the Clone Jutsu known and only performed by those of the Aburame Clan. Otherwise known as Hiden techniques."

Zaku widened his eyes in an alarming manner as he saw many insects crawling around Shino's face and coat.

"Just… what the hell are you… You freak!"

"My name is Shino Aburame of Konohagakure, and you… have lost."

"WHY YOU-!"

"If you choose to continue on with fighting me," Shino interrupted, "Then know that you'll never be able to fight again afterwards."

"What the hell do you mean?!" Zaku yelled, itching to use his attack to finish off the bug user.

"It's always good to have an ace in the _hole_." Shino started, putting emphasis on the word hole and staring down at the other ninja's hands, prompting Orochimaru's subordinate to do the same.

He would never be able to un-see what he saw right then and there for the rest of his life.

Multiple kikaichu were storming the air holes of both his arms, plugging them up to prevent Zaku from using his ability.

"You don't have a fighting chance. Why? Because if you try to use your ability with my insects clogging those troublesome holes, well… let's just say that you won't be gloating to others and have pride in your arms anymore."

Zaku sent him an irritated glare, to which the Aburame only responded with an unnerved expression on his face.

The way Shino looked at him got to the Sound ninja. It made him feel like a weak piece of shit. And he was _not_ going to let himself feel like _that_ again!

Zaku let out an angry shout as he took a deep breath, chanting the name of a Jutsu in his head.

 _Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)!_

He exhaled, expecting a large gust of wind to come bursting out his mouth to blow Shino away. Only to find that the bespectacled ninja's hair was twitching because of the minuscule pressure he exerted when exhaling.

"But how?!"

Once again, Zaku had been outplayed by the Konoha nin.

"It's simple, really. While you were distracted beating on a fellow Konoha comrade, I had sent out a great deal of my insects to latch onto you and your teammates' bodies. And with the amount on all three of you, I'd estimate that you'll be sucked completely dry of Chakra in a couple of seconds."

Zaku suddenly realized what that all meant…

 _Since the beginning, he had been using those damn bugs to drain my Chakra!_

The dark-haired ninja let out an angry shout due to being toyed around with yet again. He proceeded to throw punches at the Leaf Genin's face, to which the latter easily blocked, dodged, and parried.

Finally, after deciding that the fight had gone long enough, Shino gave Zaku a hard backhand across the face, molding Chakra to his hand in order to increase the force of the blow.

The concealed ninja watched as his enemy dropped to the ground from the force of the hit.

"You are lucky I told you about my insects." Shino stated, "If you had carried on with that wind technique with your wind holes blocked, your arms would have been blown off… and you'd probably have bled to death afterwards."

He turned his back, but not before adding, "Oh, and one more thing for future reference. Having an ace in the hole is good and all, however… _two_ aces are better."

And even if he survived from bleeding to death, Shino knew that without his wind holes _or_ his arms, Zaku would never be in any condition to fight.

 _Nice job, Shino._ Sakura thought to herself when she heard the body of the defeated Oto Shinobi hit the ground, proud of her teammate for dispatching him.

Kin was still trying to break out of Sakura's hold on her, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, Kiba with Akamaru in tow were having a stare down with the other male member of the Sound ninja.

All seemed fine. Team 8 had Team Dosu beat, and Hinata was still up and kicking in case she had to assist. Yes, all was fine indeed, until…

A gasp escaped from Hinata's lips as her eyes laid sight upon a purple Chakra coming off of Sasuke in a similar manner to Naruto's orange one.

The difference was, Hinata knew what the cause of it was.

The purple Chakra was leaking out of Sasuke's Curse Mark and it seemed to be infecting the Uchiha's own.

One could tell that it was hurting him from the constant flinching movements and small sounds of pain he was making.

The gasp she had released earlier caught the attention of everyone there. They turned their heads to look where she was looking, only to see…

A wall of dark purple Chakra, which began to open up to reveal the silhouette of the young Uchiha.

The entire atmosphere that everyone felt changed to a colder, more suffocating feeling. Killing intent was leaking off of Sasuke, and it rivaled the demonic Chakra and killing intent that Zabuza Momochi used to release.

A bright orange hue could be seen on the left half of the prodigy's body. The pattern of orange dulled and turned into a black pattern resembling the Curse Mark.

Even though none of the ninja there were Sensory ninja, they could easily tell that the color of Sasuke's Chakra had darkened significantly.

The whole demeanor and vibe Hinata felt from her raven-haired teammate had a very close resemblance to the vibe he let out during his introduction to Team 7.

Except this feeling of hatred was much more intensified.

"S-Sasuke-kun…" Sakura mused at the sight of the onyx-eyed Uchiha.

No, not onyx-eyed. The skilled Genin had his blood red Sharingan activated, with two black tomoe reflecting off the eyes of those looking at him.

Sasuke looked down at his left arm, which was embedded with black marks with the source being the mark on his neck.

He could feel it. Power coursing through his veins. Power he desperately needed and desired. Power given to him by that man…

Orochimaru.

This power…

It felt good.

No longer did he have to feel weak and helpless. Helpless in the way that he felt during that one, horrible night.

He swore himself an avenger from that day on…

He looked at his female teammate, and immediately took notice of the bloodied, beaten, and battered condition she was currently in.

Sasuke then gave a hateful gaze to the Sound Trio, already knowing that they were the ones who put Hinata in this state. However, just to be sure…

"Hinata."

Said girl widened her eyes at the sudden acknowledgement from the Uchiha.

The tone of his voice was cold, calm, and dripping with a slight lust for power.

"Those three Sound guys… They put you in that state… Correct?"

After a few moments, Hinata gave a slow and shaky nod to the Uchiha. The nod was so slight that any other person would have missed it.

"Don't worry about me. This power… that man gave it to me. I can feel strength building up inside of me… And it feels _good_. At last I understand. I am an avenger. And to continue on my path as an avenger, I must continue on the road to power… Even if it means closing my eyes to the darkness and accepting the devil."

The former Hyuga heiress let out a gasp of shock as she remembered his words at the introduction…

" _What I have is not a dream, but rather an ambition, because I will make it a reality. What I desire is… the revival of my clan, and to kill a certain someone."_

While Hinata reflected on this, Dosu looked on in shock at the sight of the Uchiha.

 _What's going on?! Our orders were to capture the Uchiha, kill him, and bring the body to Orochimaru-sama. And those marks on his body…_

Needless to say, Dosu wasn't the only member of his teammate who was confused.

"Oi! Pretty boy! Why don't you step aside and let us take care of these small fries! Then we'll take care of you." Zaku stated, rising to his feet and using his speed to run away from Shino.

Sasuke sent him a menacing glare, his anger rising and the Chakra encircling him accelerated. At this point, the marks spread over to his right half, only leaving his right arm uncovered with them.

"Come and get me, pretty boy! I can take anything you can throw at me!" Zaku shouted, getting cocky once again, disregarding the fact that he had gotten beaten and outsmarted by Shino.

"Can you now?" The Sharingan user questioned, his voice ringing in his challenger's ears as if he was right next to him.

Zaku widened his eyes when he realized that this was the case and got elbowed in the face. He was sent flying over to Dosu.

"Zaku!" Dosu called out the name of his teammate, taken aback at how far he was sent flying.

Neji activated his own Byakugan as he focused on Sasuke's body.

He narrowed his eyes, _This Chakra…_

The attacked Sound ninja rose to his feet, glaring at where the dark-haired Uchiha was standing.

"Sakura! Shino! Before we get involved, HIDE!" Kiba shouted to his teammates, who followed through and jumped into a nearby bushes, overseeing the battle from there.

To their surprise though, they couldn't see Sasuke.

"Zaku! Behind you!" Dosu warned his teammate.

It was too late. Sasuke had slammed his foot onto his back and pulled back the boy's arms, causing him to groan out of pain.

Hinata widened her eyes, _No way! His movements are so fast!_ Sasuke's movements didn't appear as a complete blur to her. She could see them, but at the speed he was going, she would have a hard time reacting to it in a fight.

Hinata gasped when she saw what he was doing. He was applying pressure to Zaku's back and pulling harder.

"You're pretty proud of these arms… aren't you?"

The Sound Shinobi turned his head to face Sasuke, a look of absolute fear on his face.

"P-Please! Stop it!"

Sakura watched with wide eyes, seeing the grin on the prodigy's face. _Is… Is this really Sasuke-kun?_ Sure, the boy was cold, but he's never shown any signs of sadism.

"Don't do it!" Hinata shrieked.

Sasuke widened his malicious grin, his pupils dilating out of excitement. He began putting more force into his pull until…

 _SNAP!_

"AUGH!"

The defeaning sound of Zaku's arms being dislocated could be heard throughout the forest.

He opened his mouth. Out came one last scream before the boy with broken arms lost consciousness and dropped to the ground.

Sasuke glared at the remaining two ninjas of the Sound Village, who were frozen in their spots.

"And then there were two! Please make it a little more fun for me." Sasuke spoke, his voice dripping with a desire to torture his next two victims more.

He faced Dosu and began to slowly walk towards him.

"STOP!"

Sasuke froze in his tracks. Slowly, he turned his head in the direction of the voice to see Sakura slowly approaching him. Her right hand was gripping the flap of her hip pouch in case she needed a weapon quickly.

"Stay out of my way." Sasuke commanded, taking his eyes off Sakura and returning his sharp gaze back on Dosu, who flinched under his sight.

Hinata and everyone else was speechless as they saw the display that occurred in front of them.

"No! I won't!" The pinkette insisted, standing her ground against the Uchiha, which on its own is a phenomenal feat for anyone in the area to accomplish.

The pink-haired kunoichi's voice snapped Hinata out of her daze. She had to do something, or else the civilian girl could get hurt, maybe even killed in Sasuke's current state.

She had no idea if this would work. There was a small chance, but she had to take it.

Taking the opening that she had with Sasuke distracted on the green-eyed kunoichi. She took off running towards the Curse Mark holder as fast as she could.

She jumped into the air, striking as many of Sasuke's tenketsu as she could in order to stop the spread of the Curse Mark's Chakra. Maybe, with some luck, if she could stop it from spreading, the Uchiha could fight it off and prevent it from corrupting him.

Sakura watched out of surprise as her former classmate was jamming down on different parts of Sasuke with her fingers.

"AUH!" The boy cried out in pain, crouching down as he could feel the power coursing through him immediately disappear along with the corruption done to his mind.

Slowly but surely, Hinata's attempt worked, and the Curse Mark on Sasuke receded.

"H-Hinata…" Sakura mused, forgetting her dislike of the girl and temporarily replacing it with surprise.

At the Academy, Sakura held her status as top kunoichi. And while Hinata, when it came to intelligence, came as a close 2nd, she never showed any good taijutsu skills despite being a Hyuga. Then again, all people who were part of a clan were prohibited from using their clan's techniques or in this case, taijutsu style.

But to think that the Hyuga's Gentle Fist could be this potent… She had thought that their title of 'The Strongest Clan in Konoha' was just bragging rights or that they had the balls to claim such a title after the Uchiha Clan was massacred.

At that moment, the pinkette actually held a degree of respect for the girl.

"Ugh…" Sasuke groaned, pressing down on his head as he took in his surroundings, seeing the two kunoichi from his class next to him, "Hinata… and Sakura?" He voiced surprise at the sight of the emerald-eyed kunoichi, due to the fact that they were on different teams, and she didn't seem to be making any advance to attack. Could she be alone, chasing after him over some foolish crush?

He looked past the two to see an unconscious Zaku, the rest of the Sound Trio along with Kiba and Shino.

 _The rest of Team 8 as well. What are they doing here?_ The raven-haired boy narrowed his eyes, staring at the two before looking back at Sakura, who had a concerned look on her face, instead of the usual one of affection.

"Are… are you ok?" To Sasuke's surprise, the Haruno paused in the middle of her sentence, something that Hinata is more known for.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." Sasuke shrugged the look off and looked at his teammate, "So, why are they here?"

"Oh!" The pupil-less kunoichi began, "I was in a fight with the Sound ninja," She pointed at Dosu and Kin, "And Sakura-san and the others decided to help. I'm very grateful."

To the fellow kunoichi's surprise, Hinata turned to her and gave a deep bow of gratitude, "Thank you for saving me, Sakura-san."

At this moment, Sakura's view of Hinata as a snobby little princess was diminished, replaced with thoughts that she was a kind and sweet girl. No facades. One hundred percent genuine gratitude.

Sasuke cleared his throat, "More importantly." He glared at the two conscious Sound ninjas, who widened their eyes and retreated a step.

The male of the two reached into his hip pouch and presented Sasuke with an Earth Scroll.

"Please. Accept this offering. You, Sasuke Uchiha, are too much for Kin and I. We plead that you accept this scroll with our freedom in return." He laid down the scroll, much to Team 7 (minus Naruto) and Team 8's utter shock.

He then went over to pick up the unconscious Zaku, supporting him with both arms. He turned his back to the group and leaped away along with Kin.

Hinata let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness that is over." She turned to Sakura and her approaching teammates, "Again, I cannot thank you guys enough for what you did."

Kiba flashed a small smirk. He was about to say something, but surprisingly Shino butted in, "Don't worry about it. You would do the same for us. Why? Because we _are_ comrades after all."

Hinata looked at the conscious member of her team. He looked like he wanted to say something but held it back. She could easily tell from his face that he was going to say the complete opposite of what Shino was hoping for.

A sudden thought hit her. She looked up to where she saw Neji and his teammates, only to find that Team Guy had left.

A hopeful look appeared on her face, hoping that her cousin was at least a little impressed with her.

 _Neji-nii-san… Did you see? Did you see if I could change?_

* * *

 **HUZZAH! Another one bites the dust!**

 **Sorry for the long wait! Hopefully it was worthwhile. I was caught off guard by how long I made this chapter, at least 11,000 words! I thought it was about 8,000.**

 **I gursg that's what I get for trying to focus on Team Guy for an entire scene. I hoped you guys liked that segment. Now, Team 10, I might not focus on, but they will still make it to the middle.**

 **Also, about Hinata's Byakugan ''upgrading", I based it off of how the tomoe of a base Sharingan develops. The more you use it, the more it evolves. So, in this case, due to her experience and usage of the Byakugan, Hinata can bow see the tenketsu. Of course, as stated in the chapter, she isn't Neji: A prodigy who can learn a techniques by fricking looking at it. For this reason, she was unable to perform 64 Palms. She needs more training before getting to that level.**

 **Of course, had Team 8 not jumped in, Hinata would had lost, even with the tenketsu stuff. It's still a 3v1.**

 **That's all for now guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	14. Interlude

"Well? What should we do with _him_?" Kiba asked out loud, nudging his head to the unconscious Naruto lying on the ground. "Should I kick him awake?"

"Please, don't!" Hinata sputtered out almost immediately, before comprehending what she was saying. The sooner Naruto woke up the better. Even if it was by force.

Her doubts resurfaced when she remembered the low feral growl. Hinata tapped her throat, suddenly being reminded of the excruciating pain she felt in the almost too real dream.

Her earlier statement fell on deaf ears to the Inuzuka's dog. Akamaru proceeded to jump off his master's head, walking over to the blonde. He turned around and lifted his right leg.

The sound of a certain liquid could be heard washing itself over Naruto's left cheek.

Kiba burst out laughing, Sakura put her hand over her mouth, trying to hide the snickering that was escaping from her mouth.

Even Sasuke couldn't help but show a smirk at the sight.

The Hyuga of Team 7 merely gave a sad look to the body of the unconscious Naruto, feeling very sorry for the blond at the moment.

Shino just looked on, slightly confused on what was so funny about a dog pissing on an unconscious person.

Akamaru halted his 'go' time. He put down his leg and turned to face Naruto, barking in his face twice. The ensuing saliva found itself scattering itself over the Uzumaki's face.

Moments later, Naruto began to stir.

Actually, he didn't stir. More like bolt upwards with a loud scream.

Hinata flinched, covering her left ear which was still a little messed up from Dosu's attack.

"EVERYONE HIDE! THAT PERSON! THE SNAKE PERSON! WHERE IS SHE?!" Naruto shrieked, jumping forward and purposely falling to the ground, looking around to find the person who attacked them.

Kiba raised an eyebrow, "You're one of a kind, Naruto."

Akamaru let out a bark of agreement.

Said blond turned his head to face to the brunet. "Dog Breath! And…" He turned his head to Shino. Immediately, a blank expression appeared on his face. "Uhh…"

"Shino." Kiba supplied.

"Shino! Yeah! What are you guys doing here?!"

While the Aburame showed no emotion on his face, his tone of voice displayed his frustration and disappointment towards the loud Genin.

"You have forgotten me, Naruto?"

"Huh?" Was the noise that came out of Naruto, "What do you mean?! I haven't seen you guys in ages!"

The bug user narrowed his eyes, "You recognized Kiba right away."

The whiskered ninja sweat-dropped, _What a weird guy…_

"They helped us out."

His ears immediately perked up as he heard the voice of his female teammate. He turned to see a bruised and beaten Hinata along with a short-haired Sakura, who was supporting a fatigued Sasuke.

"Hinata! What the hell happened to you?!" Naruto bellowed out of surprise, running over to the group of three, finding himself slightly angry at seeing his teammate in such a state.

"She got in a fight with the Sound Trio." Sakura spoke for her fellow kunoichi. "We decided to help fight them off. So be thankful, Naruto!"

"Huh?!" The blond turned his head to the green-eyed girl, still not catching on.

As they watched, Kiba let out a sigh, "That idiot. Always out of the loop. Looks like he hasn't changed much since the last time we saw him."

"On the contrary, Kiba. While Naruto does display the same childish characteristics that he had in the Academy, he has also changed as well. How do I know? Because Naruto never paid attention to Hinata in the Academy. And the old Naruto that we remember wouldn't stand being on a team with Sasuke and would most likely have immediately started an argument with him."

The Inuzuka glanced at his teammate, then rubbed his ears, thinking that he was hearing things. He never expected to hear Shino of all people to essentially compliment Naruto. He had thought that the Aburame found Naruto very annoying, and just hid his dislike for the boy all the time.

"AHHHHH! The scroll!" Naruto yelled, remembering that Orochimaru, the man who attacked them, had taken the scroll.

"Don't worry, idiot. Hinata got the scroll back. And as a negotiation, the Sound Shinobi gave us the scroll we needed." Sasuke spoke for the first time since Naruto woke up.

"Really?" He turned to Hinata and then to the members of Team 8, "Awesome!"

At that moment, Sasuke stood up, taking a long glance at each of the members of Team 8, pulling out a kunai as he did so, much to the surprise of his teammates.

"Sasuke-kun! What are you doing?!" Hinata gasped out of shock.

"Their objective is obvious. They're trying to deceive us. Make us think we're safe. Then, when we have our guard down, they'll strike us down and take the scrolls. Especially now that we have two." The Uchiha explained his actions, thinking that the concept was simple to understand.

"What did you say, bastard?!" Kiba took a step forward out of anger, "For your information, we already have the scrolls we need! We just saw Hinata in need and decided to help! After all, you and Naruto over there were just lying on the ground unconscious! If anything, you should be thankful!"

"Stop spouting crap! If you really have the scrolls, then show us!" Sasuke responded with a hard tone.

Sakura obliged silently, taking out the scroll in her possession, while Shino showed his own.

A momentary silence formed within the group of six.

Unexpectedly, it was Sasuke who broke it.

"Well, then… it seems I made a mistake."

"No shit, dumbass…" Kiba muttered under his breath so the onyx-eyed ninja wouldn't be able to hear him.

Sasuke slipped the kunai back into his pouch, turning to his teammates, "Come on. We should get going."

"I agree." Shino stated, walking closer to the Uchiha, "There are less than three days left in the second round. The earlier we get to the tower, the better. Why? Because during the final day, more enemies will wait at the tower and attempt an ambush to get a scroll or to pick out the competition."

"We should go as a group." The jade-eyed kunoichi suggested.

Sasuke looked at the girl with a perplexed look. The Sakura in front of him now was completely different from the one back at the Academy. Before, she was only good in book smart as well as being an annoying fangirl. Now, she was actually a competent ninja and more serious about the job as well.

"You have changed." The raven-haired Genin spoke his thoughts out loud to the girl.

This earned a pause in the kunoichi's breathing pattern. She looked away from Sasuke, a small blush appearing on her face.

"Is that bad?"

Had he looked into a mirror, Sasuke would know that he was actually smiling. Everyone's jaws dropped (except Sakura) as they saw the look being given to Sakura Haruno. The same girl who was one of the young Uchiha's loathed fangirls.

And it wasn't even fake. There was a little bit of shine in his smile.

They all listened as he made his response…

"No." Sasuke's expression regressed back into a neutral look, "Back in the Academy, I viewed you as merely a hindrance. Something that would just get in the way of my goal should I ever associate myself with you."

Sakura's head dipped slightly, feeling guilty of how she acted in the Academy. She hadn't cared for how Sasuke himself felt. She hadn't bothered to look and see if he was hurting inside. She had only cared about her own needs.

But… that was then. And this is now.

"I also viewed Hinata and this dumbass in the same way."

Naruto glared at his teammate.

"Now… for whatever your reason may be, you strive to become stronger. And you've finally taken the role of kunoichi seriously. Humph!" Sasuke closed his eyes with a smirk before continuing, "It seems my opinion about you has changed slightly, Sakura."

The heart in the girl's chest skipped a beat as she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sasuke was… acknowledging her…

He took his attention off of her, his usual serious expression returning once again.

"Alright. Let's hurry up."

* * *

 **Later-In the Tower**

Team 7 now stood at their own specific resting room in the tower at the center of the Forest of Death.

Fortunately, on their journey to the tower with Team 8, they did not encounter anyone.

The six split up into their respective teams, as Team 8 had to go to their own entrance as well.

It was a good thing Team 8 helped out. Had they not interfered with the Sound Trio, Hinata thought she wouldn't have lasted in the fight. Although her sudden increase in power surprised her opponents, they eventually would have adapted and overwhelmed her easily.

But now they were here, with less than three days to spare. At the very least, they could get Sasuke fixed up, as none of them knew what the Curse Mark on his neck really did. Naruto was unconscious, Sasuke was essentially taken over by corrupt Chakra, and Hinata didn't have an understanding of the phenomenon herself.

When they went in, they were surprised to find that the scrolls they had were used to Summon Iruka, their Academy teacher. He explained that since they finished early, they would get a room to themselves where they could rest for the rest of the three days.

About an hour after they arrived at their room, Kakashi walked in, wearing a casual look on his face. The Jonin sensei of each Konoha team were required to visit their teams immediately after they arrived, but in typical Kakashi-fashion, the copy ninja was late.

Naruto was the most surprised out of the three Genin. Truthfully, he hadn't expected Kakashi to even show up and see them. And this was evident when he yelled out his name with a surprised tone.

The silver-haired Jonin waved, speaking nonchalantly with a smile hiding under his mask, "Yo! It seems to me that my little Genin are slowly starting to grow up. And you made it out of the Forest of Death much faster than I expected."

"Damn straight!" Naruto's lips formed a cheeky grin, already having forgotten the hardships they had to go through in the forest.

"Umm… Kakashi-sensei…" The soft voice of Hinata projected through the ears of the occupants of the room. A hint of fear was in her voice as she immediately thought of the Snake Sannin.

"Don't you worry, Hinata. Orochimaru isn't going to hurt you guys anymore." Their sensei spoke with a reassuring tone, walking over to his pupil and placing his hand on her head as a way to console the girl.

Hinata flinched slightly, not expecting the sudden contact from her sensei.

"Wait! You know about that guy, sensei?!" Naruto questioned with a surprised tone.

"That Orochimaru…" Sasuke cut in with a serious expression, "Just what was he doing in the Chunin Exams? Why did he go after us?"

Kakashi's eyebrow narrowed in order to match the facial expression the raven-haired ninja was wearing, "That man… Orochimaru. He wants power. And getting your Sharingan is one of the most desirable ways to get such power. Speaking of which, before the deadline for the second-round hits, I need to do something with that Curse Mark of yours, Sasuke."

Immediately after that statement, the Uchiha placed a hand in the spot where the mark was. A chill ran down his spine as he remembered the man biting down on his neck. Although he didn't show it, Sasuke was still mortally terrified from the experience.

With a reluctant nod, the boy followed Kakashi out of the room, leaving Naruto and Hinata to themselves.

When they were out and far from the room, both Sharingan wielders could feel a cold presence walking towards them slowly. Kakashi merely glanced at the approaching figure while Sasuke fully directed his gaze towards it.

The auburn-haired boy stopped walking. Kakashi and Sasuke did the same. The former already knew some sort of interaction was going to spark between the two Genin.

Both identified each other with equally flat tones. Both staring into each other's soul as a means to try and scare the other away.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sabaku no Gaara."

Sasuke scanned Gaara's body, looking for something specific. Something very significant. Something that if he couldn't find any of, it would prove Kabuto's data from before right.

Although he didn't show it, the surprise and shock radiating off of the Uchiha could be sensed by both Kakashi and the redhead. In fact, the cyclops couldn't help but feel slightly taken aback by the state of the Sand ninja's body.

It was clean. Completely clean.

 _This guy…_ Sasuke's hand curled into a fist as he grit his teeth out of frustration, _He made it through the forest without sustaining any damage…_

 _To make it through the Forest of Death completely unscathed. Even high-ranked Chunin wouldn't be able to make it through the forest without receiving at least one scratch. There is more to this kid than meets the eye…_ Kakashi thought to himself as he continued to look at the boy.

There was… something about it. It could be his facial expressions. It could be how he spoke. Hell, it could even be how he stood and walked.

But something about it made it seem like Gaara was a mindless tool due to the fact he was showing very little emotion. If one looked deeper, they would think that a tiny bit of boredom was hidden beneath his actions. However, other than that… nothing. Just a blank shell.

"You are… intimidated by me."

Sasuke widened his eyes. The look on his face prompted the sand ninja to elaborate.

"Your hand…"

The onyx-eyed boy peered down to see both of his hands shaking uncontrollably. And unlike the time he stood face to face with multiple Mizu Bunshins of Zabuza, this wasn't from excitement. It was very well from fear…

 _Why… Why am I acting like this? Am I… still afraid?!_

"It seems that you live for only one purpose. And without that purpose, you have no reason to live. You have a goal and fighting strong opponents and spilling their blood will make you strong enough to achieve that goal. However, deep down… you're scared out of your mind. You can't live with this world. And the only thing keeping you going is that one goal."

Sasuke's breath hitched as the image of his brother's Mangekyou Sharingan appeared in his mind. It was as if Gaara had just put him in a Tsukuyomi like Itachi did all those years ago.

Except no Genjutsu was a part of it. He was mentally torturing him without even trying. And to the Konoha Genin's dismay… it was working!

The weakened Uchiha clenched his fist, _I'm still so weak! The fact that I am subjecting myself to his words…_

"It seems you are not the man I took you for, Sasuke Uchiha. Your blood is, while the most satisfactory of everyone participating, still unsanitary for Mother." Gaara murmured calmly, walking past Sasuke with killing intent unconsciously leaking off of him.

The lone Uchiha glanced at the Suna Shinobi as he kept on walking with an unwavering stance. And with each step, he found his confidence wavering.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he was actually taken off guard when Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder.

Sparing his sensei a look, the Jonin spoke.

"Don't you worry. We'll get you there soon enough. Now, come on. We have a Curse Mark to seal."

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Pale eyes… Check.

Same appearance as last time… Check.

Same condescending attitude as before… Check.

Yep, based off of that list, Naruto knew that it fit the description of Hinata's cousin, Neji.

"Bastard! What the hell do you want?!" Naruto bellowed, not liking the fact that he was standing in their room.

He came after Sasuke and Kakashi left, it was as if he was waiting for them to depart.

The eyes he looked at Naruto with had a disappointed glare in them, along with a 'You're a failure' feeling to it. However, the look wasn't directed at him. It was specifically towards Hinata.

"None of your concern, _Uzumaki_." Neji spat with a smug tone of superiority in his voice, knowing that the blond Genin stood no chance against someone like him. His eyes never left Hinata's, and boy was she frightened.

Those cold, watchful eyes picking up her every move. Reading her body language and translating it perfectly. No matter how many times she tried to stand up to those eyes, she always failed. And she didn't know why.

By technicality, they were her eyes. They were of the same clan. They were literally cousins. But how can _he_ give such a look with his eyes. How can he look so threatening while Hinata herself always looks like a wilting flower?

It frustrated her… deeply.

"I admit, I am surprised that you've managed to make it this far, Hinata-sama. It seems fate has dealt you with good luck for the time being. However, it ends here. Withdraw. I've seen the eyes of everyone here. You don't _belong_ here."

Hinata winced under his gaze, looking down at the ground. Naruto grinded his teeth, tapping his foot out of frustration as he tried to restrain himself from snapping.

"You'd best take my advice." The branch member slowly crossed his arms with a cross expression on his face, "Should fate give you a bad opponent, like me for example, you'd only get yourself seriously hurt. Don't make that face, Hinata-sama. I'm only telling you what is best for your own benefit."

That was the last straw.

"Do you always feel the need to put down those who you believe are weak?! If I ever get paired with you, I'm gonna kick your ass, ya know!" Naruto took a strong step forward, raising a fist towards the male Hyuga.

The prodigy couldn't help but chuckle uncontrollably. "Oh please. Someone like you beating me? As far as I'm concerned, you're just as weak as Hinata-sama here."

"Grr…" Naruto growled, but couldn't come up with an answer to Neji's statement. No matter what he would say, the side branch Hyuga would not falter whatsoever.

"Nothing to say? Very well then. I hope not to see either of you in the next round, for your own sakes." Neji told the two, turning around and leaving the room.

When he was far out of earshot, Naruto immediately yelled out, "He has one of the longest sticks up his ass, ya know! Hell, I'd say it rivals Sasuke's stick. And that thing is HUGE! Don't let that intimidate you, Hinata! Whoever I fight in the third round, I'll kick their ass! Especially if it's that guy or Sasuke!"

Hinata smiled slightly, despite her downed mood. No matter how damp it got, Naruto could always lighten the atmosphere with just the sound of his voice. And no matter what would happen, he would always aim to surpass their Uchiha teammate.

That's just like him. Always so determined.

If only she had that determination…

* * *

 **Days Later**

"Kakashi, I assume you have sealed the Curse Mark?" Hiruzen asked the silver-haired ninja in a quiet voice so none of the contestants could hear.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. The Curse Mark has been taken care of."

Anko, who was standing right next to the two, narrowed her eyes towards the Uchiha, who was standing in front of his opponent, Yoroi Akado. She had encountered Orochimaru in the forest, and he had told her that he was in the village to get Sasuke. The reason… she could only assume that it was because of his Sharingan.

That wasn't the only thing. Apparently, the boy was already tagged with the Snake Sannin's Curse Mark. The same one she had. Even if it was sealed, the mark could still be deadly if released. She didn't like the chances of that happening.

However, she knew that no matter what she would say, Sasuke would still be allowed to fight.

At the very least, he only had to fight once, much like all the other contestants at the moment.

The battle went by very quickly. Sasuke was able to use his ninjutsu and Sharingan since the mark was sealed. However, the way he finished off surprised a lot of people, particularity Might Guy and Rock Lee.

He had finished Yoroi off with a move he called the Shishi Rendan (Lion's Barrage). However, Guy mentioned that it had a very similar concept to the Omote Renge (Primary Lotus). According to him, the first two moves were exactly the same.

Lee deduced that Sasuke must have used his Sharingan to copy his movements and then implemented them into his own move.

Since the Uchiha boy already got the Curse Mark situated, he was allowed to watch the rest of the matches.

The next two matches were Zaku Abumi vs Shino Aburame and Misumi Tsuguri vs Kankuro. The matches ended with Shino and Kankuro's victory.

Everyone looked to the black screen in anticipation as they waited for the next two people to be picked out to fight. The two names the screen stopped was of two Konoha Genin.

 _Sakura Haruno_ and _Ino Yamanaka_ …

* * *

 **Honestly. I don't know about this chapter.**

 **I'm calling it an interlude chapter because of how short it is.**

 **Now, I'm going to try and put the prelims into one chapter, as not much will change there. I'm just redoing Sakura vs Ino, reworking Hinata vs Neji, maybe Naruto vs Kiba? Who knows..**

 **Well, that's all for now guys, hope you enjoyed this interlude chapter.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	15. The Bout of Rivals and Hyugas

Sakura took her eyes off of the screen and fixated her gaze onto her opponent, Ino. The blonde kunoichi was already staring at her, before letting out a small smirk.

Kurenai placed a hand on the shoulder of her female student, giving her a smile, "Go on, now. Show them what you're made of."

The civilian born girl merely gave a smile of appreciation in response to her sensei. She jumped onto the ground where she and Ino would duke it out.

While this happened, the Yamanaka also jumped down onto the ground. Both slowly walked towards the middle, meeting each other face to face.

"I had a feeling it would come down to this. But for it to be so soon…" Ino trailed off, waiting for a response from her female rival.

"I had the same thoughts, Ino." To the surprise of some people from their class, Sakura didn't use any insult to address Ino.

And while it was troublesome to admit, Shikamaru noticed that Sakura has been more mature recently. This was further strengthened by what she said next…

"Just keep in mind, right now, I'm not fighting you for Sasuke-kun's affections or anything like that."

"Hmm?" Ino's eyebrows lifted up slightly out of surprise.

Sasuke himself was surprised as well, albeit he hid it very well. That didn't stop him from taking a look at the Haruno's face and realizing that she was genuine.

"I'm fighting you… so I can truly put down my days as a fangirl. So I can finally bloom from a bud into a flower. And then, I will prove myself to be a _true_ kunoichi!"

On the sides, Kurenai couldn't help but curl her lips into a proud smile. Sakura has truly grown from the Sasuke-obsessed fangirl she used to be. She always knew the girl had potential, but that was always hindered by her insecurities.

Sure, she still had things to work on, but… didn't everybody?

"Ino!" The emerald-eyed Genin called out to her fellow rival, "I want to fight you at one hundred percent! I want to see how far I've come!"

The blue-eyed kunoichi gaped as she gazed at Sakura. The same person who she broke a friendship with over a boy. Looking back on it, she couldn't help but feel _very_ guilty about letting her own feelings get in the way of that friendship with Sakura.

This time, she'll make things right.

The blonde closed her eyes and undid the headband tied around her waist. While she did this, Sakura did the same, albeit the headband was on the top of her head.

Both placed their Konoha headbands on their forehead and moved to fully tie it as a sign of acknowledging each other's strength, despite not even throwing a single blow.

At this point in time, they didn't need to fight to know how strong the other was. Despite their severed friendship, they still could tell _that_ much about each other.

Surprisingly, the proctor of the preliminaries, Hayate Gekko, was patient throughout the entire conversation. And it was only after the girls tied their headbands did he give the signal to begin the fight.

Hearing the voice of the examiner running through their ears, the two kunoichi dipped into their respective pouch and picked out a weapon. Sakura took out a kunai while Ino fished out and threw multiple shuriken.

Albeit slightly startled, the pink-haired kunoichi stood her ground and fought off the shuriken with ease.

Ino then came following the shuriken, trying to hit Sakura in the head with a jumping front-kick. This attempt failed, however, as the green-eyed girl jumped out of the way.

When she landed, Sakura responded by swiftly crouching to the ground and delivering a sweep kick with her left leg. The attack connected with Ino's legs, and the long-haired girl let out a short scream as she stumbled to the ground.

Fortunately, the pinkette's reaction to this was slow, and Ino had just enough time to jump back to her feet. The short-haired Haruno then placed the handle of the kunai into her mouth and bit down on it softly.

Sakura began to form hand signs, eventually ending with the Ram sign. Suddenly, three other Sakura's appeared out of the girl's body, dashing towards Ino, who widened her eyes out of shock.

 _The regular Bunshin technique?! What does she think this is, a graduation exam?!_

Ino focused her eyes to the Sakura who stayed behind, still holding up the Ram hand sign.

"It's too easy, Sakura!" The Yamanaka heiress smirked as she made a mad dash for the lone replica of her opponent, ignoring the other three coming towards her. She held out her hands, forming a sign used only by the Yamanaka.

The members of Team 10, after seeing Ino connect her thumb, middle, and index fingers immediately knew what she was going to do.

"She's getting way too worked up about this." Asuma stated, putting a hand on the side of his head. "She should know that technique is only good in a group."

Shikamaru let out a sigh, "What a drag. Ino's so caught up in winning that she doesn't even realize that she's playing right into Sakura's hand."

Naruto, who was nearby, heard this and gave the Nara a confused look. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Idiot. You really don't see what Sakura is doing?"

"Hmm?"

At this moment, Shikamaru wanted to cut out his eardrums with one of Asuma's Chakra Blades.

Back to the battle, Ino sported a confident smirk on her face, _I win, Sakura!_

"Shintenshin no-UGH!" Ino cried out loud, feeling a closed fist connect with the side of her face. She stepped backwards, grabbing her cheek. However, before she could figure out what was happening, she had received another punch straight to the face, causing her body to jerk back as an instant reflex.

 _What?! This should be a regular clone! How is it actually hurting me?!_ Ino panicked inwardly, blocking two more punches which were aimed at her chest.

She leaned back and performed a kick towards Sakura's abdomen, only for the girl to throw her arms in front of herself. The blonde applied pressure to her foot, pushing Sakura back.

 _Amazing! She used what I taught her and used an illusion to make it seem like she was using the Bunshin no Jutsu. She created three illusions, two rushed with the real one while the third stayed back as a decoy to make Ino think it was the real one, while in reality, the three extra Sakura's weren't Bunshins at all, just mere illusions made from Genjutsu!_ Kurenai analyzed Sakura's tactic.

"She's gotten much better." She stated outwardly to her two male students. "However, against a more seasoned ninja like a Jonin or Kage, a trick like this would most likely not work."

It was at this moment when Ino began to catch onto Sakura's trick.

 _I see. It was all just Genjutsu. Not bad, Sakura! However, I've got you now!_

The blue-eyed ninja hid the smirk daring to crawl onto her face as she anticipated Sakura's next move. While the girl had good mix ups and Chakra Control, she lacked in speed, stamina, and battle smarts, things that Ino herself edged her out in after her training with Asuma.

The red-dressed kunoichi pounced, using her Genjutsu once again to make three illusions of herself appear. This time attacking from Ino's left instead of middle.

She yelled 'SHANNARO' as she pushed her fist outward towards Ino's chest.

 _Smack!_

The sound of a fist hitting an open palm could be heard bouncing off the walls. Sakura quickly removed her arm, throwing a roundhouse towards Ino's head, which she easily dodged by ducking.

The blonde countered with her own set of punches. Two punches to each side of the face, followed by a single strike to Sakura's gut.

"URK!" The girl cried out in pain, feeling her lips separate as a bit of saliva came flying out and hitting the ground.

At that moment, Sakura's instincts came kicking in full force, telling her to send a punch to Ino's face.

 _BAM!_

Blood coming from two different sources flew into the air.

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Sakura's fist connected with Ino's face and vice versa.

Sasuke looked at the fight with an uninterested look on his face. He was slightly intrigued by Sakura's display of Genjutsu and the trick she used against Ino. However, it seems that Genjutsu was the only thing the civilian improved herself in.

It was sort of disappointing. He had expected more improvement out of Sakura. But the Uchiha had to admit…

He never expected Sakura Haruno, one of his most prominent fangirls to become _this_ adept at Genjutsu.

Recovering from the blows done to each other, Sakura and Ino retreated, jumping away from each other.

 _How!? How has she gotten this strong?!_ The Yamanaka wondered mentally while panting.

 _I can do this! I can win!_ Sakura told herself taking in heavy breaths, albeit at a calmer pace than her rival.

"It can't be helped." The blonde muttered, "I'll have to try the Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Transfer Jutsu) again. Then how about this…"

What happened next no one expected.

Ino put on a frustrated face and let out an ear-piercing scream, reaching down into her pouch and grabbing a kunai.

On the sidelines, Team 10 covered their ears, the reaction of most other teams like Team 7 and Team 8. Some had their own thoughts on the matter…

 _What a drag! She's completely lost it…_

 _Annoying…_

That second one was thought by a certain puppet user from Suna and an Uchiha from Konoha.

Ino held up her long hair, "I'm not going to let you outdo me, Sakura!" And with that, the sound of a kunai slicing into Ino's hair could be heard.

Ino grabbed a handful of her hair and threw it towards Sakura, followed by the kunai she held in her hand.

Sakura merely sidestepped the kunai and ignored the hair slowly sinking to the ground. She began to run to her left…

Only to find that she couldn't.

"What?!" She looked down to see a light blue Chakra line wrapped around her leg. "What is this?!"

Ino chuckled, "I infused Chakra into my hair when I cut. You fell for my trick, Sakura!"

 _No!_ Sakura panicked, desperately trying to move her foot, only to find the deed impossible. _With the state I'm in now, Ino can surely land her Jutsu on me!_

Said girl's lips turned into a smirk, forming the sign for the Yamanaka Clan's signature Jutsu. "I win, Sakura. Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Sakura's body jerked up while Ino's body stiffened. They stood frozen for a couple of seconds. Eventually, the blonde's body collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

Sakura looked down at the ground, a grin forming on her face.

On the sidelines, Asuma smiled.

 _You put up a good fight, Sakura, but this is where it ends._ Ino, in Sakura's body, thought to herself as she began to raise her hand…

Naruto's breath hitched. He had the urge to yell out to Sakura as a way to repay her offer in the first round. However, he stopped when he saw 'Sakura's' hand freeze.

The possessed Sakura moved her hands to her head, letting out groans of pain as she felt the real Sakura Haruno fighting her Jutsu back.

" _It seems you haven't mastered this Jutsu yet, Ino-pig!"_ Sakura spoke deep within in a mocking manner as she continued to push her former friend out of her mind.

" _How?! How are you beating me?!"_ Ino panicked as she tried to fight back, but to no avail. She momentarily blacked out as she felt her mind leave her enemy's body, returning to her own.

Sakura grinned, while Ino yelled out loud, "How did you get so strong?!"

"To tell you the truth, I was never taking the role of a Shinobi seriously. I was still stuck in my Academy days as a fangirl of Sasuke-kun. However, a certain mission I took… taught me an important lesson."

A grim look appeared on Sakura's face as she continued, "My team could have died on the mission. And we would have if Kurenai-sensei wasn't there. I've decided. I don't want to be a burden anymore. I want to be strong enough, so in case Kurenai-sensei is not present, I'll be able to take care of my team in her place!"

 _Her determination is unwavering. That is a quality of a true Shinobi. Sakura, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose._ Kurenai thought to herself as a smile appeared, _No matter the result…_

The pinkette pulled out a kunai and began to run towards Ino, who responded by taking out her own kunai.

 _CLASH!_

 _I am proud of you, Sakura._

The blades of the kunai met in between the girls as they struggled to gain control.

The sounds of the metal grinding against each other was so loud, Sakura almost his missed the heavy breathing of her blonde opponent.

 _She must not have a lot of Chakra left! I'm running low as well, I've got to end this quick!_

What the pink-haired ninja did next caught Ino off guard completely.

She began to make signs with her free hand. Something that the Genin of Team 7 immediately recognized.

It was mere coincidence of course. Sakura wasn't on the mission to the Land of Waves. She didn't know that she was using a trait that they had saw Haku do.

"Performing a Jutsu with one hand?" The blonde gave a perplexed look to the other kunoichi, "Have you lost your mind? What makes you think that's going to work?!"

A look of amusement spread on a Sakura's face, _I'm not trying to perform a Jutsu…_

Suddenly, her fingers curled into a fist. She pulled back momentarily and launched her attack, connecting right with Ino's cheek, ending the blade lock and sending the Yamanaka stumbling back.

Taking a leap towards her enemy, Sakura launched another punch at the face of the recovering girl.

 _SMACK!_

"UGH!"

 _THUD!_

The sound of Ino's body hitting the ground. However, she made no attempt to get up.

Due to Chakra exhaustion, Ino was out for the count, and those two punches from Sakura didn't help all that much either.

After receiving no movement from Ino for about 30-45 seconds and two loud coughs from the proctor, Hayate finally spoke.

"The winner of this match is: Sakura Haruno."

He spoke with very little enthusiasm. In fact, no one in the room seemed happy for the girl's win except for Kiba, Kurenai, Shino, Naruto, and to some extent Hinata. Although the latter was mostly due to the fact that the pinkette had saved her in the Forest of Death and as a result came to respect her more.

 _When she wakes up… It'll be time to make things right._ Sakura thought to herself, walking over to her old friend's unconscious body, picking it up. She walked to the side where Team 10 was and went up the stairs to them.

Eventually, Ino woke up. And while the match between Tenten and Temari went on, they spoke to each other and made up, rekindling their friendship once again, with Ino finding more respect for her rival.

However, this loss made her resolve herself to become stronger so she could make up the loss against Sakura. They were still rivals after all.

In the end, Tenten fell to Temari. The next two matches were Shikamaru vs Kin and Naruto vs Kiba. Shikamaru ended up outsmarting Kin, backing her up into a corner and using his brains to capture her with his signature Jutsu.

She smashed her head hard into the wall and lost unconscious.

Meanwhile, most of Naruto's fight with Kiba was very one-sided. The Inuzuka proved to be a formidable opponent. However, the blond didn't give up, and eventually, he broke through and managed to defeat Kiba with an Uzumaki Rendan (Uzumaki Barrage).

Of course, this was something he based off of Sasuke's Shishi Rendan (Lion's Barrage), which was based off of Lee's technique.

Despite their hard work, Kiba and his ninken lost.

"Haha! Alright! I kicked some serious ass!" Naruto cheered, running up the stairs back to his team. He immediately turned to Sasuke, "Did you see _that_ , Sasuke?! Did you see it?!"

"Hn. Idiot! I know you used that last move based on what I did." Sasuke rebutted with an irritated expression on his face.

Though he had to admit, Naruto had gotten stronger. He was still an idiot. And his taijutsu for the most part was still kinda ass. But overall, he's been making better use of his Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones). He would never have imagined the Naruto in the Academy pulling off a move like that.

Hinata looked at her blond teammate's beaten and battered face out of concern, reaching into her pouch, pulling out some ointment and presenting it to Naruto, who took it without a moment's consideration.

Kakashi glanced at his team with his visible eye. He smiled under his mask.

Truth be told, when he made the decision to place Hinata on his team instead of Sakura, he thought he mortally screwed up. But he was impressed. All of three of them had improved. And Sakura seemed to be doing just fine on Team 8.

It was also at this moment that Kakashi realized, he was being a very neglectful sensei. He hasn't worked on training with his students. And the only thing he taught them was Chakra Control.

Surely, his team deserved a reward for making it _this_ far into the Chunin Exams.

"Now, then! The next match!" Hayate announced as the screen began to scroll through the remaining contestants.

Hinata watched with anticipation as the sounds of the device played like the ticks of a clock. And it was eating at her mind. So far, she was the only one out of the team to not fight yet. She could not bring down the performance her teammates had showed!

She widened her eyes when she saw the two names. Her's…

And Neji Hyuga's.

Had this been the old her, she would have stricken with fear and stuck her finger to her lip. But not this time. This was her chance! To see if she truly has changed!

And Neji was the perfect person to see if she has.

One minute later, the former Hyuga heiress found herself face to face with her cousin, who was glaring at her with a means to scare her away.

"Hinata…" Naruto mumbled, getting angered by the look on Neji's face.

"That guy…" Sasuke started, gaining the attention of the people around him, which consisted of Kakashi, Naruto, and Lee. "He's one year our junior, Naruto. He has much more experience and training than Hinata. She stands no chance."

"Hey! What the hell are you saying?! Didn't you tell him days ago that Hinata wasn't weak!" Naruto yelled at his teammate, walking up to grab his collar.

Sasuke quickly shoved the hand off, "I know. I was saying she wasn't weak. I never said anything about her strength in comparison to his. Besides…" He stole a glance at Lee and Might Guy.

 _If this guy's sensei is a taijutsu expert, then he has no doubt undergone rigorous training like Lee. This Neji guy must be pretty nimble, considering the speed and training regime of his teammate._

Of course, this internal assumption could have been wrong. But considering Neji and Lee's sensei, this was most likely not the case.

"I had a feeling it could come down to this, Hinata-sama." Neji droned, beginning to start a speech, "Before we begin, I would like to say one thing…"

Hinata almost found herself mouthing the next word that escaped his lips.

"Withdraw."

On the sidelines, Sasuke's ears perked up to hear growling. He turned his head to the left to see his blond comrade gripping the bars in front of him while grinding his teeth with a furious aura around him.

"Please, save your words, Neji-nii-san. I have no intention of running anymore. Right now, it's my chance to prove myself to those I admire! Because of that, I can't fall now." Hinata activated her Byakugan and took a Juuken stance.

"To those you admire? Would that happen to be the Uzumaki? If you haven't noticed, it's because of people like him that you are destined to fail! Surrounding yourself with losers only makes yourself a loser!"

"Naruto-kun is _not_ a loser!" Hinata argued, shifting her hand to the front of her face. "He works hard every day just to get acknowledgment! Say what you want about me… but I will not have you call Naruto-kun a failure! None of my comrades are failures."

Naruto watched with wide eyes as he heard the former heiress defend him. Before this, not many people had ever held him in a high regard. The only people who did were Iruka and the Third Hokage.

 _The look in her eyes are different…_ Neji noted before activating his dojutsu and taking his own stance.

"I was hoping you would withdraw for both our sakes. But it seems that is no longer possible. Do not blame me for whatever happens."

"I know exactly what I'm getting myself into." Hinata responded before continuing, "And that's why I'm doing it. All of this time I wanted to change myself. I hated the weak-spirited me. Now is my chance to see how far I've come!"

"Well then, now that you two are ready…" Hayate trailed off, bringing his hand down… "Begin!"

Immediately after getting the signal, Hinata took a leap towards her cousin, ready to attack.

This action surprised Neji, as Hinata _never_ took the first attack when they sparred or when she fought anyone else for that matter. She was always so timid and afraid. Afraid that if she made a mistake, she would get punished severely as a result.

Shifting his body to the right and holding up his left hand, the brown-haired Hyuga blocked Hinata's strike. More strikes from the girl prompted Neji to weave his body around just barely dodging the assault.

Soon enough, Neji began to throw his own palm strikes at his younger cousin. She didn't block any of them, but she was very good at moving her body away.

Out of the blue, Neji thrusted his hand out with two fingers straight and the rest bent, aiming for one of the tenketsu on Hinata's left arm…

It flew in the air in a blur. So fast that most of the people on the sidelines didn't even see his arm moving. However, despite this, the lavender-eyed rookie managed to parry the blow.

Neji's tight gaze softened slightly out of shock, _She's faster than that time in the forest._

That didn't make sense though. All she was doing was resting for the past three days. There was no way her speed could increase like that. Could it have been from exhaustion at that time?

 _Whatever it is, she's still not a match for me!_ Neji bantered inwardly, throwing a strike towards Hinata's appendix. The kunoichi jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding contact.

She retaliated with another strike of her own. And thus, began a series of palm strikes, parries, and the sound of Chakra imploding around the hands of the two ninja.

"Just a tiny graze is all she needs…" Naruto murmured, remembering Hinata's explanation in the Land of Waves. "Go on, Hinata! Show this destiny jackass who's boss!"

"I'm afraid Hinata-san will not be able to win, Naruto-kun." A familiar voice rang through the blond's ears. He turned his head to see a familiar green spandexed individual.

"Bushy Brows! What do you mean she can't win?! Look at her, she's got him on the ropes!"

"That guy…" Sasuke suddenly spoke up, "He's stronger than you. Isn't he?"

The silence from Lee all but confirmed the Uchiha's suspicion.

"It's as I thought. She stands no chance."

"What the hell Sasuke! She's _definitely_ not going to win if you don't believe in her!"

"Believing isn't going to always get you results, idiot. It's about time you realize that simple fact. Sometimes, some circumstances are out of our control, and we are powerless to fight against them. We can only just watch and see things unfold before us." The raven-haired ninja added with a bitter tone, thinking back to his dark past.

As the fight continued, Hinata could progressively feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Blocking another palm from her opponent, she widened her eyes at the opening she saw.

 _Right here!_

She thrusted her palm forward towards Neji's abdomen. And to her surprise, the attack actually connected. The prodigy let out a cry of pain, stumbling backwards as he kept his guard up.

In a quick moment, Hinata inwardly celebrated her accomplishment. She actually caught Neji off guard and landed a clean hit on him.

After turning his head and spitting out some blood in his mouth, Neji charged.

"While I admit you have gotten stronger, you are still a failure in Destiny's eyes! I'll show you the true difference between our strength! HUAH!" Neji shouted, throwing a quick strike to Hinata's stomach, catching her off guard and sending her backwards with a small cough of blood.

The bluenette recovered. Seeing that the branch member was now rushing towards her, she took the initiative.

She narrowly ducked under Neji's strike and thrusted two fingers from both of her hands on different locations of Neji's body. The prodigy flinched as two of his tenketsu were subsequently forced off.

Hinata formed an open palm and aimed for Neji's chest. The latter formed a spear hand, aiming for Hinata's heart.

 _BAM!_

Both bodies froze in place.

Silence flew throughout the room. It was Naruto who broke it…

"Did she get him?"

This question was answered by a cough. The cough of a young female.

Blood dripped out of the kunoichi's face and onto Neji's hand. A stream of leftover blood lingered on the girl's face as she looked her cousin straight in the eyes with a pained look on her face.

 _So this is the power of the side branch of the Hyuga Clan._ The Third Hokage, who was spectating the fight, thought to himself with an impressed expression. _Still… the fact that Hinata is trying her best to keep up is commendable._

 _I'm not done yet!_ Hinata thought to herself with resilience, shoving Neji's hand off her chest and aiming her own spear hand at his chest.

Despite her best efforts, however, Neji caught the hand and palmed Hinata in the belly, sending her backwards again.

She stumbled back to her full height, clutching her chest tightly and breathing heavily.

The pain in her chest was almost unbearable. She was surprised that she had the will to stand up after a direct Gentle Fist blow to the heart.

Her body wanted to just drop on the spot and give up.

But her spirit didn't.

Not while everyone was watching. Not while _he_ was watching. This was her chance to prove herself and show that she can be strong too.

"I'll give you this last chance. Withdraw."

"No. Not anymore… I'm not giving up anymore. Because… because that's my nindo… my ninja way…"

Neji furrowed his eyebrows, staring at his cousin out of irritation.

Why wouldn't she give up? She's completely different than in the past. When they used to train, Hinata would want to give up after getting hit once, and only continued on because her father was watching.

 _It seems I have no choice…_

This was the only way to make her forfeit. If she kept going on he could kill her by accident. And that was the last thing Neji wanted.

"I already know of your incapability of performing the 64 Palms, so allow me to show it you." Neji said, dipping down into a second stance. "Juukenho: Hakke Rokujuuyonsho (Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams 64 Palms)!"

"What?!" Hinata gasped, trying to lift her arms up as a defense. But to no avail, as Neji was already on the move. Taking a spinning step forward, Neji threw both of his hands out and struck the girl on her chest and thigh.

"Hakke Nisho!"

With excellent speed and accuracy, Neji threw another two strikes, these ones aimed for two tenketsu in Hinata's left arm. The girl cried out in pain, gritting her teeth as Neji yelled out 'Yonsho'.

To Hinata, all she could feel and hear was the connection of attacks and the astounding sounds of Chakra erupting from the brunet's fingers.

"Hachisho! Juurokusho! Sanjuunisho!"

"Guh!" Hinata gasped for air as she witnessed her older cousin take a strong step forward.

Finishing off the combo, Neji shouted, "Rokujuuyonsho!"

"AHHHHHHHHH!" The weakened kunoichi screamed as she was blown backwards. The next thing she knew, she was on the cold, cruel ground. Many different spots of her body were sore and they hurt a ton thanks to Neji. Not only that but 64 of the 321 tenketsu in her body were now shut off.

Neji let out a 'hmph', as he began to speak, "I told you it was pointless. We both knew the result of this match even before it started. You were just delaying the inevitable and look how you are now. On the ground and you can't even stand."

"Come on, Hinata! Get up! I'm getting so irritated watching this!" Naruto roared out in frustration, trying to encourage his downed teammate.

 _Naruto-kun…_

Hinata slowly shifted her head back so she could see him. He was watching her. No, all of Team 7 was watching her. _Everyone_ was watching her. She can't just like down like a doll and let everyone see her as a failure. Whether her body liked it or not, she was going to continue the match.

With as much leftover strength that she could muster, Hinata placed her hands on the ground and supported herself.

Despite being in the winning position, Neji let out a gasp of shock. He watched in awe as slowly but surely, Hinata was rising to her feet, being extra careful not to stumble, fall, and lose the rest of her strength.

 _To think that she can still stand after that technique…_ Kakashi thought from the sidelines with an impressed look. _She's definitely grown, that's for sure._

"How? How… do you know that move?" Hinata asked her opponent in a quiet and weak voice. "It is-"

"A Jutsu only taught to those of the Main Branch." Neji finished for her, "You are correct. However, by mere observation, I have mastered this move."

"By mere observation?!" All of the pain Hinata felt in her chest was wiped away for a single moment of shock. She knew Neji was strong. He could see the tenketsu and was generally skilled in the Gentle Fist. But to master the 64 Palms by observation?

"Do you now see just how big the gap between our strength is, Hinata-sama? Destiny has granted me with the greater strength, yet…" Neji narrowed his eyes out of anger, "The destiny of my father was to be forced into the Side Branch, thus putting me into it as well. While you, were placed into the Main House yet marked as a failure! How about you end your suffering now? We both know that I shut down the tenketsu in your arms. Now, you can't even mold Chakra to your hands."

Hinata shook her head firmly, "You're wrong about one thing, Neji-nii-san."

"Hmm?"

"I can tell…" Hinata panted, struggling to even get the words out of her mouth, "That you have been suffering more than I."

"I'm what?"

"I can also tell that _you_ are the one who's torn up about the fate of the Main and Side branches of the Hyuga."

At that moment, something within Neji snapped. He lost his composure and put on a mortally angry face. He made a mad dash for Hinata, leaking out all of the killing intent at his disposal. And it was a red alarm for all the Jonin present.

"DO NOT LOOK DOWN ON THE SACRIFICE OF MY FATHER!" He had shouted, throwing his hand out at full force, preparing to put his younger cousin out of her misery.

However, he did not get the chance to do this, as the next thing he knew, Hayate with two fingers at his forehead, Guy's hands wrapped around his neck in a stranglehold, and Kakashi having a tight grip on Neji's arm, leaking out his own killing intent on the boy, stopped the prodigy's next move.

"Neji, get a hold of yourself." The infuriated Hyuga's sensei commanded, "You promised me that you wouldn't let the affairs of the head family get you riled up."

"Why are you all interfering?! So the Main Branch gets special treatment, huh?!" Neji spoke with an extraordinary amount of venom and hatred in his voice towards Hinata.

As if on cue, said kunoichi felt a sharp pain at her heart. She dropped to her knees coughing uncontrollably. Immediately, Kakashi left Neji and went to take care of his female student.

"Hinata! Hang in there." The copy-ninja spoke, laying her body down on the ground.

"Hinata!" The voice of Naruto rang throughout the ears of everyone as he, Sasuke, and Lee jumped down from the spectators' place and ran over to the hoard of Jonin and Genin.

Hinata glanced at Naruto, gaining his attention. She opened her mouth to ask him a question, but nothing came out. She felt the light in her eyes, as her vision was surrounded by total darkness. The question she wanted to ask was…

'How much have I changed?'

Sasuke formed a fist with his hands sneaking a glare at the brown-haired Hyuga.

"Uzumaki!" Neji called out to the blond, earning him a disgusted and furious look from said boy. "Two pieces of advice for you: First, if you are a ninja, then stop that annoying cheering of yours. Second, once a failure always a failure. They cannot change."

Neji's words triggered something in the Uzumaki, and in a flash, the boy was dashing towards the victor of the match in a fit of rage.

He only stopped because of the green-clad boy who just stepped in his way.

"You…"

The smirk Neji wore faded away as he looked at his male teammate with an expressionless face.

"I understand how you feel, Naruto-kun. You will only get disqualified if you pick a fight now. Wait for a proper match. Just think about it, the underdog beating the genius through hard work. The sound of a match like that sounds thrilling! I might be paired up against him. But if you end up facing him, then that is fine too."

Naruto scowled at the black-haired boy before straightening his posture and regaining his composure.

"Hmph! Fine."

"This isn't good! She's going into cardiac arrest!" A member of the medical team, who was now checking on Hinata spoke, causing Naruto to freeze up on the spot.

Then came the statement from another medic.

"At best she's only got ten minutes!"

Kakashi watched as the medical team put Hinata on a stretcher and carried her away. He looked down out of shame. Once again, he has failed his team. First Obito, then Rin, and last but not least Minato. And now there was this.

Hinata. One of the three students he had sworn to keep alive. Now lying at death's door.

He looked to his other pupils. Sasuke, showed no emotions. However, Kakashi could feel some anger radiating around the Uchiha.

Naruto however…

He put his fingers into some of Hinata's blood which was still fresh in the ground. He picked up the blood-stained hand and formed a fist while giving Neji a resolved look.

He thrusted his hand out and spoke.

"I vow to win."

* * *

 **And we're done with the preliminaries. Next chapter might take a bit because I need to decide from two things on what to do next.**

 **Obviously, I wasn't going to have Hinata win her fight against Neji. However, she is stronger than her canon counterpart, as she actually managed to land 2-3 hits on Neji. Neji is the prodigy of the Hyuga Clan and was probably the 3rd or 4th strongest Genin in the room at that time.**

 **That's all for now guys. Hope you enjoyed this little chapter, and I'll see you guys in the next installment.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	16. Afterwards

If there was one thing that Hiashi Hyuga knew, it was that he was a man of many mistakes. He was so inclined to this belief, that if anyone were to tell him otherwise, he would think he was under a Genjutsu or something.

He let out an exhausted sigh as he looked over yet another piece of paper, regarding an incident between a Main and Side Branch member, resulting in the usage of the Caged Bird Seal.

A tradition that has been present for much of the Hyuga Clan's history. So much so that Hiashi himself didn't even know when the tradition started. And even the origins of who started it was still a mystery and any other theories and speculations from the books in the Hyuga's library was questionable at best.

No matter how much he wanted it gone, he couldn't help but keep resorting to use that damn mark against the Branch members. He was too engrossed in the teachings of his ancestors to go against them now. He would not like to be the one to face the risks of performing such a task.

So much hatred had built up between the Main and Side Branches, it was too late. And that hatred was starting to get to Hiashi.

He deep down knew that soon, something bad was going to happen. He had the feeling that the Side Branch would rebel, and that they would have to be exterminated. Of course, that would solve the problem of Branch houses.

However, that would essentially be recreating the Uchiha Clan massacre except on a smaller scale.

And that was one of his failures.

All of the hatred present in the Hyuga Clan. Of course, he couldn't blame himself for what has happened in the past of the clan's history. Such things were out of his control. But _maybe_ he could have been able to change all of that. Unfortunately, he, like many others before him, did nothing.

After seeing how his eldest daughter was at the age of 3, he had a small bit of hope.

Hope that with some adjustments, Hinata would have been able to become an exceptional Head, putting an end to the hatred spewing out in the Hyuga Clan.

Of course, such hope was abandoned after seeing how shy, kind, and timid the girl was.

Perhaps, her timidness and dislike of confrontations could all lead back to him, her father. After all, being a father was completely foreign to him, even after being one for 13 years now.

Another mistake.

How he treated his daughters and hell even Neji's pessimistic outlook on fate can be traced back to him. Then, with his daughters, he constantly looked down on Hinata, belittling her and destroying what little self-esteem she had.

And Hanabi…

As of a result of how he treated Hinata, he pushed a big burden on his youngest child. She not only carried the burden of the Hyuga Clan, but her sister's failures as well. All of which, could lead back to him, once again.

If his wife was still here, in this compound, things could have been much different.

Third mistake.

His wife.

Before he could ponder on the rest, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hiashi-sama! Terrible news!"

He turned to the entrance of his office, where he saw Ko Hyuga, with an ill look on his face.

Hiashi prepared himself for the worst. What, was it going to be yet _another_ case of a struggle between a Main and Side Branch member?

"What is it?" He asked with a displeased tone betraying the emotionless look on his face.

"It's Hinata-sama! She's in the hospital and is in cardiac arrest!"

"What?!"

The usual stoic face on Hiashi disappeared as multiple emotions flashed across expression. Anger. Concern. And surprisingly...fear.

He immediately rose from his chair, making his way to the doorway in a flash. Ko moved out of the way, letting Hiashi dash out of the door.

* * *

 **At the Konoha Hospital**

When he got to the hospital, he rushed over to the reception desk. Only to see a bowl of blond hair and a boy draped in an orange jacket and pants.

What made the boy easily identifiable to Hiashi was the whisker marks on his face.

 _Naruto Uzumaki…_

The Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi (Nine Tails). Frankly, he had no problem with the boy's status as the Fox's jailor. However, the brat's constant pranks and knack for trouble was too much for Hiashi's liking.

He understood why the Uzumaki was that way, of course. In some ways, deep down in his heart, Hiashi actually felt bad for the kid. He had known who the boy's father was. Not only was the resemblance canny, but he was one of the few people who was told about the Yondaime having a child.

The other Clan Heads like Shibi Aburame, Shikaku Nara, etc. The head of the Uchiha, Fugaku, was aware. But he was dead now.

He wasn't particularly close with the Fourth Hokage...or any of the Clan Heads for that matter. Before becoming heads of their respective clans, Hiashi had worked with the other Clan Heads in the past.

Despite their few interactions, Hiashi held a degree of respect for them. Of course, due to their status as future Clan Heads, they were never deployed into battle that often.

Hiashi held the Fourth Hokage in a high regard, due to his efforts in the Third Shinobi World War and his reputation as Konoha's Yellow Flash.

But to think that the kid at this desk right now...is his son...was simply mind-boggling to Hiashi.

By the time he made it to the reception desk, Naruto's eyes were on him.

His eyes carried a pleading light in them for some odd reason.

"Hey! Hey! You're the head of the Hyuga Clan! Hinata's dad, right? This lady here won't let me see her!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the lady at the desk, who stared at the boy with an exasperated expression at the way he was talking to Hiashi.

Said man narrowed his eyes. He already knew what the boy wanted.

"Hey, listen! I already told you! At the moment, you're teammate cannot be visited. Only members of her clan and her Jonin sensei are allowed that right. I assure you, she will live." The receptionist yelled.

"But-"

"I am sorry, Uzumaki. But the rules of the hospital must be followed."

Naruto returned his attention to the current speaker, Hiashi. His eyebrow twitched at the sight of the man. The expression on his face immediately reminded him of Neji. And being reminded of the guy makes him remember Hinata's condition.

"But that's not fair! What makes Kakashi-sensei so different from me to the point where he gets to visit and I don't?!"

"Hmm? I heard my name." A new voice entered the area. Hiashi chose this moment to leave and go to Hinata's room.

Naruto turned around to see Kakashi standing right behind him.

The Jonin already knew the next thing Naruto was going to say.

"Don't worry. Hinata is fine. Unconscious. But she will live to fight another day."

Naruto let a small sigh of relief hearing that. Now that his worries about his female teammate were quelled, he went onto his next point of interest.

"Kakashi-sensei! Please train me!"

The copy ninja sighed, "How did I know you were going to say that? I already got you covered. I hired you an instructor, and he will be here shortly. He'll be a much better sensei than I will be. In fact, I think I see him right now."

He pointed at the entrance, prompting Naruto to look in that direction.

At that moment, the blond wanted to jump into a lake and never see the sun again.

It was a man with shades, wearing the forehead protector as a bandanna and the standard Konoha outfit, minus the flak jacket.

He had remembered the man from the day he had taken his photo after becoming a Genin. He was supposed to watch over Konohamaru Sarutobi, the Sandaime's grandson. However, Naruto only associated him with one thing…

"Closet pervert!"

* * *

 **Later-Hinata's Room**

Her father's face. That was the first thing she saw. And at first, she thought she was in a dream. She never expected her father to be looking after her. After all, she didn't think that he cared about her at all.

The expression he wore was blank. And it wasn't even looking at her. His eyes were just staring at the wall. Any trace of concern was hidden from her, never to be seen by the world.

After a few moments, Hinata uttered, "Father…"

Hiashi's eyes were now fixed on her. "You were in cardiac arrest. You won't be allowed to go out on missions for a month or so in order to recuperate…"

To her surprise, he trailed off. An awkward silence filled the room. It was only them. No doctors, no nurses. No one. Just Hinata and Hiashi.

Father and Daughter.

Hinata shamed herself for not knowing what to say in that moment. Unsurprisingly, it was her father who broke the silence.

"I heard that you faced off against Neji."

"Y-Yes…" Hinata spoke in a groggy tone, finally noticing how tired she was. An aching occurred in her chest as she was reminded of her match with her cousin.

"You lost."

"...Y-Yes."

She shut her eyes and looked away. If she could, she would have brought her hands up to her ears and blocked everything out. She didn't want to hear the insults that were cooking in her father's mind at the moment.

She had just managed to change herself! She couldn't allow insults to beat her down and make her regress _now_ of all times. She had just stood up to Neji! The one who's been above her for so long now.

And _NOTHING_ that Hiashi Hyuga had to say was going to-

"I'm proud of you…"

Her entire world froze.

…

"What?"

"I said I'm proud of you." His face showed no sign of feeling. However, one could tell from the tone of his voice that he had meant it. And he was actually happy. If just a little.

Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did that Sound ninja Dosu mess with her hearing while she was unconscious?

"C-Can you...repeat that...please?"

She spoke with a whimper. Her ears couldn't believe what Hiashi had said but her mind had fully processed the words.

The way she whimpered made Hiashi feel something weird in his chest. But...he couldn't figure out what it was. He could only assume that it was one of the many emotions that he tries so hard to suppress on a daily basis.

It was regret. Regret about all off his past failures.

But now, he made a decision.

This time...things would be different.

He'd make sure of it. It all started with this.

"I'm _proud_ of you, Hinata...my daughter."

* * *

 **Later-Hokage's Office-Night**

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Come in." Come the voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi in response.

The door creaked open, revealing the tall and big figure of a long white-haired man with red markings on his face.

Hiruzen couldn't help but smile at the sight of the newcomer.

"It has been a long time, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya of the Sannin sported an unusual serious expression. One that he almost never wore outside of battle. Hiruzen always keeps forgetting that Jiraiya has a serious side to him, which shows itself once in a while.

"I met Minato's brat today."

"You mean your godson?"

"You already know I don't deserve to carry the title of Naruto's godfather. After all, I'm absent for his entire life up until now." The Sage said, closing the door behind him, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall.

"I assume you aren't here to mope about your failures, Jiraiya."

The 50-year old man smirked. His sensei could always see through him…

"Yes. There is another pressing matter. Orochimaru. Is he…?"

Hiruzen gave a grim nod, "Yes. Orochimaru is somewhere hiding in the village. He had defeated Anko in the Forest of Death. According to Kakashi, his squad of Genin were attacked by Orochimaru as well. One of the Genin, Sasuke Uchiha, was given the Curse Mark."

Jiraiya furrowed his eyebrows, taking the information in. There was no question about it. Orochimaru's motives are crystal clear.

"He wants the Uchiha."

"That's not all. I sense something bad is underway." Sarutobi told his pupil. "Not long ago, before the Chunin Exams, Team Kurenai took part in a joint C-ranked mission with Sunagakure (Sand Village). Their mission was to take down a group of bandits who stole the Fourth Kazekage's Gold Dust. They encountered actual ninja in that mission. Kurenai turned one over to Ibiki. The only piece of information we got put of him was that he was a ninja from Otogakure, a newly formed village. Anko said that while facing off against Orochimaru, she could have sworn that he wore a headband from Oto."

"You're suggesting that Orochimaru is secretly leading this new village?" Jiraiya asked. His answer was a nod from the Hokage, causing to let out a sigh of frustration. "I was going to leave after I finished up with Naruto, but now it seems like I have to stay."

"I see…"

"You know. If Orochimaru does show up again, we'll have to kill him. He's done too many horrible things to be left alive now."

"Yes…" The Third Hokage stated adamantly, "I know."

…

"So, Sarutobi-sensei." Jiraiya started, trying to break the ice. "I'm cooking up some new ideas for a new novel…"

* * *

 **The Next Day**

"Come on! What are you gonna teach me now?! Tell me! Tell me!" Naruto demanded, swinging his arms up and down.

"Shut for a moment and listen, brat!" Jiraiya spoke, taking Naruto's jaw and snapping it shut. "Good. Now, then! Let's see what you got, kid."

…

…

…

"Huh?"

Jiraiya's head dropped.

 _This kid...he may be his son, but he's nothing like Minato in terms of intelligence._

He looked Naruto in the eyes and clarified, "I've already seen your water walking. Now show me what Jutsu you know. I need to know where you're at in order for me to gauge your strength so I can work from there."

"Alright! Let's see…" Naruto lifted up a finger, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu), uhh…"

Immediate silence.

Jiraiya began to get impatient. "Come on, kid! We're losing daylight and time for research!" He snuck a look of the surrounding area, trying to find any potential peeping places.

No response.

The Gama Sennin (Toad Sage) finally realized the problem. And boy did the news hit him like a truck.

"Please don't tell me you can only do perform Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…"

"No! No! No! No! No! I can do a Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Jutsu)! Umm...Kamawiri no Jutsu (Substitution Jutsu)...?" He spoke in a small tone, letting Jiraiya know that he sucked with the latter technique.

The long-haired man sighed and rubbed his temples out of frustration. Now he was beginning to wonder…

HOW THE FUCK DID THIS KID SURVIVE A RUN-IN WITH OROCHIMARU WITH ONLY A SHADOW CLONE JUTSU?!

No, in fact HOW IS THIS KID STILL ALIVE AT ALL?!

"Alright, brat. It seems my original plan for you will have to wait for a little bit. Now while I _would_ teach you a new technique to compensate for your ass amount of Jutsu, I'm not going to."

"Huh?! Why?!" Naruto practically screamed out of anger.

"We're going to train to use your Kage Bunshins in a strategic and non-idiotic manner." Jiraiya informed the blond.

A tick mark formed on the boy's head after processing the insult. He calmed down, and lended his ears to the perverted member of the Sannin.

"Hey! How are we gonna be training my Kage Bunshins? I thought I was already pretty skilled with them, ya know!" Naruto began to let out a boastful laugh.

"Tell me, brat! You said you were taking part in the Chunin Exams. Who's your opponent?"

Naruto's eyebrows visibly narrowed as a hissing noise came from the boy's mouth out of anger. "My opponent is that _bastard_ Neji Hyuga!"

"A Hyuga, eh? You'll definitely lose like this if you don't try to improve how you think in battle." Jiraiya stated with a smirk, something that only annoyed Naruto even further.

"Come on, Ero-sennin! I need to get even stronger so I can beat the crap out of that guy!" Naruto exclaimed with enthusiasm, forming a fist with his hand and digging deep into his skin with his nails.

"I like the enthusiasm, kid! Let's see if you have what it takes to back it up!"

* * *

Ever since Hiashi's visit, Hinata had found it awkward to even communicate with her father. And it wasn't for anything related for his disappointment in her. It was because she was at a loss of words.

For so long, she has been yearning for her acknowledgment from her clan, especially from her father. And now she finally got it. But...after all of those years of verbal abuse, it just...doesn't feel right.

Hinata had feelings in her heart that doubted Hiashi. And dare she say, little tiny bits of those feelings actually resented her father. She normally suppressed these feelings of resentment, but now, they seemed to be leaking out at full force.

They were completely denying Hiashi's compliment, believing it all to be a lie.

Hiashi may have been a terrible father, but he wasn't an idiot. He knew when someone held resentment towards him. And he could sense such a feeling in his daughter. It hurt him realizing that he was the cause of the resentment her daughter carried towards him.

Everything was still out of focus for Hiashi. Perhaps it was lack of sleep or detachment from reality all together. But now it was time to change things. Starting with the truth…

Father and daughter now stood in the training room in the Hyuga compound. Hinata had been discharged from the hospital mere hours earlier.

"Hinata, my daughter...I…" Hiashi paused, not even knowing where to begin. "I know I have been a terrible father to you…"

The lavender-eyed kunoichi flinched slightly, being reminded of all the harsh words that carved our scars into her mind. No matter how hard she tried to ignore them, Hinata couldn't help but feel a bit of bitterness towards her father.

She tuned back in to hear her father say, "It's about time I impart some truth to you. For all of this time, you must have wondered I treated you the way I did…"

Hinata looked down at the ground, not even wanting to look her parent in the eyes.

She wiped her face to feel that the top of her hand was wet. Hiashi paused to let her compose herself. He knew being reminded of how he treated her was going to hurt a lot.

Great, he hasn't even started and she was already shedding tears. No matter how hard she tired, it was pointless. She just couldn't stop the tears…

"Don't worry. You can cry as much as you like here. There is no else around except us." Hiashi informed his daughter with a surprisingly calm tone.

After Hinata stopped crying, the head of the clan continued, "I know that you are nothing like me. In fact, you take more after your mother, in both personality and appearance. Both quiet at most times...and too kind for your own good. And when she was your age, she suffered from confidence issues as well. Albeit her case wasn't as bad..."

"T-Then why? After knowing how I felt. How I thought. You still looked down on me...and destroyed what little self-esteem I-I had…"

Hiashi closed his eyes as he listened to his daughter's rant.

"A-And the training! It was so _cruel..._ you almost always paired me up with N-Neji. You knew his hatred for the Main Branch and me...but you still did it anyway. Every session was...physical abuse...and the looks you gave me while I trained! That look of disappointment...of doubt. Doubt that I would ever be something useful…" She wrapped her arms around herself tightly as her body began to shake.

"And now! After all of these years...y-you turn around and just say...sorry? L-Like nothing happened at all?" She coughed, unable to handle the stress of the current situation.

"The reason I treated you that way was so I could motivate you. I thought that by putting you down...looking down on you, it would motivate you to get stronger for my respect. I thought that by insulting you, an unwavering desire to get stronger would form inside you. But it seemed like it did nothing...in fact, it only make things worse."

For the first time in a while, Hinata saw an emotion in her father's eye that she would never see. Regret. Or maybe sadness. Whatever it was, it signified that he truly regretted how he was in the past.

"However, I won't lie. My bitterness for the past 10 years can be traced back to the death of Hizashi. Then there is the loss of your mother. The way you are and how Neji used to be reminded me of your mother so much, I vented all of my bottled up anger on you both. And the fact that Neji was like Hizashi in skill didn't help either."

"S-So...Neji-nii-san is like thus because...because of you?" Hinata whimpered, shutting her eyes, hoping that it was all a dream. "All of this time...I-I thought he _hated_ me. I thought _I_ was the reason he...he changed. But it was you...again?!"

Now that got Hinata thinking. Just how many people close to Hiashi changed for the worse because of him.

No...wait.

"Did..." Hinata tried to speak the rest, but the words never came.

She was too scared about what answer fate would give her.

Great, now Neji was rubbing off of her.

"Speak up more, Hinata." Hiashi commanded with a soft tone. Even in a room where they were alone it was so hard to hear his daughter. It's like she wasn't hear at all. Was the damage done to her _this_ bad? If it was...then how did she gather the courage to fight Neji?

His focus trailed away from those questions. He tuned back into hear a question that made widen his eyes...

"Did Mother run away?!"

Hiashi's fist tightened as he grit his teeth. It took everything in his power to keep him from beating the fuck out of a practice dummy. He knew Hinata didn't mean anything by it, but it still hurt like a _bitch_ to hear it come from her mouth.

"No. She didn't."

Unbeknownst to Hinata, Hiashi pushed a certain memory to the back of his head. A memory involving him and his wife before her desth. A memory he was not fond of...

"Then...She did die?"

"Yes."

Hinata's heart skipped a beat, and a detested and sad look appeared on her face. While having her Mom run away was a bad thing, it was better knowing that she was alive than dead. At least, to Hinata that is. So the hope that she could been alive shined brightly within her. Only for that hope to thrown into the trash and replaced by emptiness.

The indigo-haired Hyuga then asked another question.

"What happened to Mother's body?"

Hiashi visibly stiffened. "Unfortunately... _that_ is a question I have no answer to. We thought she died giving birth to Hanabi, as you know. But when we came to bury her body, it was gone…"

Hinata gasped, "Gone?! How?!"

"I don't know how." Hiashi stated with a blank look, "I can only assume that someone stole the body. Perhaps an outsider managed to sneak into the village somehow. But, I just don't know."

A rare flame of anger lit up within Hinata at that moment. A wide frown formed on her face as she clenched her fist tightly.

"B-But why? why are you telling me all of this?! Why now? After all of this time of rejecting me and walking away when J needed you most, _why_ have you started treating me nicely?"

Hiashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was it. The last chance he had...

"Hinata. All I wanted was for you to be strong so you could protect yourself. I thought my way was the best way, but it turned out to be the worst. That and...I've made so many mistakes until now. I want to make amends, and reforming our bond is one of those ways." He walked up to his daughter and pulled her in for a hug. "I don't expect your forgiveness. All I want, is for you to give me a chance. A chance to better myself, and make things right."

A small tint of red formed on Hinata's cheeks, covered by the tall body of her father. She hadn't felt like this in so long. She was feeling how she was feeling whenever she was with her mother.

It was love.

Love from a parent. Now that is something most kids with parents experience.

But love from Hiashi Hyuga as a parent. Something about it was special. Not as special as her mother's love. But still…

Special.

"F-Father, may I...ask you something?" She spoke with a small, yet firm tone.

"What is it?"

"I-I was wondering. A-After the Chunin Exams...when I'm in fine condition to go out and be a ninja again. C-Could you assist in my training in my free time?"

"Of course." He wasn't about to start refusing her now. Things were finally starting to seem right. Now he just had to do something about three other things. Three more of his failures.

Hanabi, Neji, and…

The Curse Mark.

* * *

 **At Night-Unknown Area**

There he stood. From an unknown structure, overlooking the town of Konoha, pondering about the events of the coming month.

It's funny. The same place he had sworn to protect at one point, was the same place he was planning to destroy today.

He could have died of laughter from how funny another thing would be. The one who taught him, would end up dead _because_ he taught him and loved him in the first place.

But Orochimaru didn't believe in dying.

The Snake Sannin closed his eyes and let out a malicious smile, "Kabuto. I presume you've brought the three brats?"

Kabuto Yakushi, who had just appeared behind the rogue ninja, smirked while adjusting his glasses. "You would be correct, Orochimaru-sama."

He moved out of the way to reveal the Sound Trio. They all had perplexed looks on their faces. Even when having his back turned to them, Orochimaru knew that somewhere deep down they were scared shitless of him.

"Dosu," He called out the bandaged Genin. "I'm surprised you are alive. I thought that you would go after the Kazekage's son to make sure Sasuke-kun lives."

"Not long after the preliminaries of the third round, I made it very clear to him that no matter what happened, Sasuke-kun will survive his match. After all, he _is_ the last Uchiha. Well, the last one alive and loyal to the village." Kabuto corrected himself with a stale tone.

Secretly, an amused smirk formed in Kabuto's face. _At least, he better hope that is the case._

"For what reason do we owe this meeting, Orochimaru-sama." Dosu walked forward, kneeling on a knee, prompting Kin and Zaku to do the same.

"Originally, I was just going to kill the three of you for not fulfilling your given assignment." The black-haired man spoke, licking his lips.

Shivers flew down Kin's spine while Dosu flinched. On the other hand, Zaku gave an aggravated glare towards the Snake user.

At this point, Kabuto had left.

"However…" He started, prompting all three of them to freeze, "I have changed my mind. It seems you three can still serve a purpose for me. As long as you pledge complete allegiance to me."

"Oi! What do we get in return?" Zaku blurted out impatiently, prompting Kin to throw a senbon into his leg as a way to make him shut up, causing a cry of pain from the male ninja. He seethed and muttered under his breath, "Bitch!"

Orochimaru merely chuckled. "What you get in return? I promise that the three of you will receive great power in the end of it all."

"Great power?" Kin raised an eyebrow skeptically. At Orochimaru's insistent nod, she grew even more suspicious. "There has to be a catch."

"You would be correct. There is a little process to receiving this power boost. In fact, there is a 90% chance that you will die in the process. But perhaps with Kabuto here he can raise the chances of survival slightly." Orochimaru spoke with no care at all, as if taking the lives of people was an everyday thing to him.

Which, for the most part, it was.

"A 10% chance of survival…" Dosu trailed off as a bead of sweat rolled down his face.

 _Could it be…?_

His brain played a memory of Sasuke Uchiha awakening with a black pattern spread over the left side of his body. Then came great speed followed by the snapping of Zaku's arms.

Though the stakes were high, he needed some way to gain power. With monsters like the kid from Suns along with the Uchiha, the increase of power would be well worth the risk.

Kin closed her eyes, thinking about a certain pink-haired kunoichi along with another kunoichi with veins bulging around her eyes. The Hyuga had not only humiliated her but she got mollywhopped by some weak nobody using easy Genjutsu. If she could get that power, then she could have some _fun_.

Zaku on the other hand, thought of two boys. Shino Aburame and Sasuke Uchiha. The latter for breaking his arms and the former for making quick work of him twice in an infuriating and humiliating manner.

To lose to some bug brat…he would _not_ accept it! In both matches, he could have had his arms blown off. In their second match, it didn't even last a minute. The Aburame quickly shut off the air holes in his hands and knocked him out.

Making their decision, the three Sound Shinobi rose to their feet. The three looked at each other before returning their attention to Orochimaru.

The power-hungry tyrant smirked. "Excellent. Since you three obliged, I assume you know the risk. We will begin the process _now_!"

The three Sound ninja widened their eyes out of shock as they saw Orochimaru's head practically pop itself out of place.

It flew over to each of their necks one by one, biting down on the sides. They all cried out in pain and dropped to the ground, writhing and squirming. When it was all said and done, Orochimaru's head returned to its rightful place. He began to chuckle sadistically and maliciously.

"I hope to see you three soon…"

* * *

 **Hey guys. Got another chapter up for you. Sorry it took so long.**

 **ALRIGHT! SMALL RANT TIME:**

 **Now here, my plan for Naruto isn't to become a fucking brainstorming genius like Shikamaru. Naruto isn't the type to think things through. He does things on the fly and goes with the flow. That's his character. And if you're trying to go by the character, you might as well TRY and stick with it. Naruto will become stronger, and he will use more Jutsu than Shadow Clone Jutsu and Rasengan. Jiraiya will also be a better teacher to Naruto, but still similar to his canon counterpart.**

 **Again, Naruto will be smarter IN BATTLE. Remember Naruto's background, no friends, no parents. At the time of his graduation, he thought only Iruka and Hiruzen acknowledged him. Hiruzen didn't have time for Naruto due to his status as Hokage. Iruka is the closest thing to a father that Naruto has, and no one else.**

 **Naruto is, pretty lazy despite his never-give-up attitude. When it comes to education and book smart, he cannot put his full effort because he doesn't think it matters. And he's pretty stupid because of it. With no one like Kushina to keep him in line and studying, it's no wonder why he's so idiotic.**

 **With Jiraiya, he will become smarter. He'll still be least intelligent or second least intelligent of the Konoha 11(plus Sasuke), but the gap won't be as big.**

 **RANT OVER**

 **That's really I wanted to say here, to explain why Jiraiya is acting different. Because as Naruto's Godfather, he feels he's responsible to take care of him as much as he can as Naruto's only 'family'.**

 **Now that that's over, I can close off this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	17. One's Destiny

The mechanical beeping of an alarm clock blared in Naruto's ears. His eyes shot open while he swatted the device with his hand.

As the sound of impact killed the ringing, Naruto sighed.

Today was the day. The finals of the Chunin Exams were mere hours away.

Over the course of the month, he had been training with Jiraiya, whom he dubbed Ero-sennin (Pervy Sage). For two weeks, the Sage had helped the blond train his Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones). In fact, the man went against his word and actually taught him a technique that was developed by the Third Hokage himself. After that in the span of the following two weeks, Jiraiya taught him how to use the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu).

He struggled greatly. But when he finally succeeded, he was hospitalized for the next three days. He woke up to find Shikamaru Nara in his room. They later encountered Gaara trying to kill Rock Lee. Thankfully, Might Guy intervened before things could get ugly.

Naruto shivered, truly fearing at what could have happened had Guy not been there.

That Gaara guy...he was a complete monster.

Speaking of monsters, before summoning the giant toad that hosptilized him (Gamabunta), he met the Kyuubi no Kitsune (Nine Tailed Fox). The beast could do nothing to Naruto thanks to the seal. Even still, despite putting up a tough act in front of the biju, Naruto was still scared shitless.

The air around the fox was malevolent, sinister, and it literally Naruto could have sworn that he had forgotten how to breathe during his conversation.

And to make things worse, not only was the fox a complete asshole, but the reason he even ended up in that situation was because Jiraiya _chucked_ him down a fucking _ravine_.

Note to self, make sure to get back at Ero-sennin tenfold later. Maybe by rating him out while doing his 'research'. Watching the women beat the snot out of him will be hysterical to see.

Unfortunately, the thoughts of Jiraiya being beaten up in a humorous manner did nothing to lighten Naruto's downcast mood.

 _Can I...Can I really do this? With guys like them..._ Images of Gaara and Neji appeared in his head. The latter beating Hinata while the former beat Lee, the same guy who beat Sasuke without breaking a sweat.

Naruto forced himself out of bed. Moping about it now was not going to help. He had to just keep moving forward, like he's always been doing up until now.

He gave a small, loud laugh. Only for it to be unheard by the solitude that was his apartment. He had thought that since he fought against the likes of the Demon of the Mist and his apprentice, he could take on anything.

Oh how wrong he was…

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Sakura pulled the ends of her headband, securing it on her head where it rested. For the past month, she had been training with Kurenai while Kiba assisted. On the other hand, Shino opted that he get training from his father. Since Sakura herself didn't have any special clan things to learn, it was only fair to let her get the Jonin sensei.

The training was strenuous, but Sakura felt that it did its part. Very few of the sessions were used to train her Genjutsu and Chakra control. Instead, it was used to amp up her Chakra capacity slightly along with hightening her physical capabilities, things that she was severely lacking in.

And now, today, she was ready for the fights. Her match will be against that Sound ninja named Dosu. 1 month ago she would have been completely shivering in her sandals, thinking that she wouldn't stand a chance.

But now, she thought she could. Sure, Dosu was probably rigorously training as well, but still...it was _her_ time to show what she could do!

"I'm leaving!" She called out to her parents, with her ears picking up the sound of her mother wishing her good luck. Sakura couldn't help but smiled. She really did take her parents for granted...

She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have none.

It made her regret how she used to think of Naruto.

* * *

 **Later-At the Stadium**

A bird. Bound to it's nest. Unable to move for whatever unknown reason. Because it did not want to. Because it was scared.

Quite symbolic for today's future events.

The loud cheering of anticipation for the exams. The betting of money on the contestants. For the first mouthwatering match.

The betting was not an integral part of the system for the Chunin Exams. It was just something that people did. Perhaps to make it more intense…

In the past, people would scream, brag, boast during a match. Some of this bickering would lead to verbal and often physical bouts between people of the audience themselves.

This year...would probably be no different. Especially with the people attending the competition.

Promising Shinobi Neji Hyuga and Sasuke Uchiha.

Mysterious ones, particularly the ones from foreign villages like Gaara and Dosu.

And then there was that one guy people looked down on.

In the eyes of the villagers it was the most annoying, good-for-nothing idiot who made himself known for his pranks and harboring of a certain Biju.

Heads of the audience began to roll and glares down at a certain blond began to form when the two contestants of the first match were revealed.

Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga.

There was another who was waiting in anticipation and apprehensive of what to expect from today's future events.

Hinata Hyuga, the newest arrival, was this person.

While she had no doubt that both of her teammates were stronger than her, she couldn't help but have an ill feeling. Neji brutally beat her and...he probably wasn't going full strength either.

On the other hand, Gaara put an end to Lee's career as a Shinobi, she later found out. Her heart ached knowing that the dream of the eccentric boy was now crushed, right in front of him. And if Lee lost and barely made it out, who knows what could happen to Sasuke…

Hinata slapped her cheeks. No! She couldn't think like that. Naruto's morale was boosted thanks to a pep talk she gave him at the Third Training Ground earlier that day while heading to the stadium.

And Sasuke...well, although they weren't particularly close in anyway, Hinata had no doubt that the Uchiha will find a way against his opponent.

"Hey, Hinata!" The voice of fellow kunoichi Ino Yamanaka rang in her ear. She met her gaze with a confused look, "Are you just going to stand there or are you going to sit?"

It was then that Hinata noticed that Ino was sitting. There was an empty seat on her right, which she had her hand on as if to invite her. On her left was Kiba, with Akamaru perched on top of his head. Choji sat next to him, munching on some potato chips.

"Ino-san." Hinata murmured as she walked down the stairs to Ino's level. She shimmied between her three former teammates and took a seat next to the blonde Yamanaka.

"How's your condition? Have you recovered from your match yet?" Ino asked immediately with a sincere tone.

The lavender-eyed girl nodded with a small smile, "Yes. They said I shouldn't push myself for a couple of days. Other than that, I'm fine. But…" Her smile turned to a frown as she looked onto the battleground, where she could see the nine contestants standing in a line…

Wait! Nine?

"You're worried about the idiot, aren't you?" Kiba asked the girl, referring to Naruto.

Her left hand twitched as she spoke in a slightly louder tone, "He's not an idiot! He's just smart in his own way…"

The Inuzuka raised an eyebrow, surprised at the girl's sudden defense of Naruto. Sure, the two were teammates so of course she would defend him, but to go as far as to raise her voice...something was off…

A light bulb went off in his head. He let out a grin, showing his feral teeth, "Oh, I see what's going on here! Haha! Who knew…"

His grin was soon replaced with serious features defining his expression. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Neji, "I'll admit, I was wrong about him. Naruto is strong, and he has my respect in some ways. But...against the so-called person who was touted as the strongest Konoha Genin in this batch...I just don't know if Naruto can win."

Hinata remained silent as she stared at the row of contestants once again. Naruto was there, Neji was there. Then there was Shino, Sakura, and Shikamaru along with the gang from Suna was there as well. Not to mention that Dosu guy…

But where was Sasuke?

Hinata looked up, setting her gaze to the other side of the arena. There, she saw her father, Hiashi, with his father on his right and Hanabi on the left.

He was saying to her sister, but she didn't know what. And frankly, she wasn't concerned about that right now.

She looked back down at the arena at what _did_ concern her. Everyone had left the arena. Only Naruto, Neji, and a new proctor named Genma stood on the battlefield.

"Do you have something to say to me?" Neji asked, seeing the look of anger and determination on the blond's face, directed all towards him.

Naruto's hand quivered before tightening with never-ending resolve. He held his fist out forward, mimicking the same action he did after Neji's fight with Hinata.

"I vow to win."

Neji took a step back, shifting his body and holding his hand out. Finally, he topped it all off with the activation of his dojutsu. The intimidating Juuken (Gentle Fist) stance along with the Byakugan etched itself into the brains of all witnessing the match.

"Talking big is one thing. But fulfilling the purpose of your words is another thing. And with these eyes, I can already see that purpose never coming to fruition." Neji said.

"I don't care how dim the odds look. I _will_ win! Especially after what you did to Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed, moving his hand down to his side, not removing the confident expression on his face.

Neji raised an eyebrow, "Why are you making such a big deal over the outcome of a match? Its not like you should hold a grudge against me just because my opponent was to weak to properly combat me in a fight."

"Well here's some news for you, big guy! I've got plenty of reason to hold a grudge against you."

And with the end of their rant came: "The first match of the Chunin Exam finals, begin!"

"Alright! Let's do this!" Naruto yelled, running in a straight path towards Neji while pulling out a kunai.

 _That idiot!_ Kiba thought to himself from the stands, _He has a Hyuga on his team! Shouldn't he know that going in recklessly is just going to make things bad?!_

Neji smirked, "Fool. If this is all you've got then there is no point in fighting!" He dodged a swing from Naruto with by leaning backwards slightly.

Just as he had expected from a dropout. Even though he had a member of the Hyuga Clan in his team, he was still ignorant to the point where he would rush in like a bull.

Or perhaps Hinata didn't have it in her to tell him. One or the other…

Dodging Naruto's stream of attacks as if he was dancing, Neji finally decided he had enough. He grabbed Naruto's wrist and tried to whale on his tenketsu.

However, Naruto slammed his leg out, causing the Hyuga to miss his strikes due to an irregularity in balance.

"Eat this!" Naruto shouted, throwing an uppercut to Neji's chin. He felt the grip on his wrist leave as the prodigy performed a backflip high into the air, just barely avoiding Naruto's attack.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed at his failure to make contact. He crossed his fingers, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Four poofs of smoke later and five Narutos were now standing in front of Neji.

The long-haired Genin narrowed his eyes as he studied the clones. He immediately took note of the fact that there was no way to distinguish between a clone and the real Naruto.

"Get him!" Naruto commanded his team of clones.

"Yes sir!" They all obeyed and charged Neji, cocking their fist back for a punch.

The real Naruto soon followed with them. He kept into the air with his kunai still in his hand.

Neji began to wear a smug expression on his face as he sidestepped and dodged each attack thrown at him. He seemed not working any sweat in the fight, and that was evident by how his hands were by his side the entire time.

The only time they moved was when the real Naruto threw his kunai. Neji grabbed the weapon while it flew towards him, twirling it around his fingers in a quick manner.

Two poofs smoke appeared on the field. Two Bunshins bit the dust.

The battle halted temporarily. No sound was made other than the impact of Naruto's feet hitting the ground.

 _Two clones left…_ Neji thought to himself with a bleak expression.

The Naruto in the back punched his palm, "Alright! Let's get wild!"

He and his clones reached into their pouches, taking out five shuriken each.

"I'll be honest. My original plan was to try and land a blow on you by pretending like I didn't crap about your fighting style, letting your guard down by inflating your ego, but it seems that didn't work." Naruto said with a distraught and sad look on his face.

Neji's interest was slightly peaked at this revelation. Normally, going for a risk like that against a user of the Juuken would be suicide. But here this kid was, going along with like there was nothing on the line.

"Hinata told me a ton about the Hyuga's techniques in our first C-ranked mission. Sure it wasn't a lot, but it's definitely enough to know that while you are confident in close combat, all members of the Hyuga Clan suck in long-range fighting!"

And with that, Naruto crossed his arms and chucked his shuriken at Neji, with the Bunshins mimicking his every move.

All three formed the Kage Bunshin sign.

"Now it's time to show you one of my newest Jutsu! Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu)!"

"What?!" Neji along with many other ninja in the sidelines widened their eyes of out of shock as the amount of shuriken thrown doubled, surrounding Neji.

"You've got _no_ escape!" Naruto shouted with a grin. He didn't know why, but for some reason, he relished the prospect of this guy becoming the shuriken version of a pincushion.

"Alright! Kick his ass, Naruto!" Kiba cheered at the top of his lungs, lifting his fist up with a holler.

Hinata's face spread with fear. While she wanted Naruto to win, she didn't want Neji getting severely injured. Even if he had intent to kill in their match, the Side Branch member was his still her cousin.

Her uncle's son.

"Neji-nii-san…"

The shuriken flew through the air, taking a bend down in an attempt to take a snag at Neji's blood.

Unfortunately, Naruto's plan to win would not suffice...

Neji's state of shock soon washed itself away. Regaining his composure with a smirk, the genius planted his right foot on the ground and began to spin at great speeds.

It was time. The Head of the Hyuga Clan was watching this match. He had a put on a show for him…

And prove a point.

Expelling Chakra from his multiple tenketsu, a blue shield formed around Neji's rotating body.

"Hakkesho Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation)!"

This time, Hiashi Hyuga found himself standing up from his seat. His father, was more reserved, but a confuzzeled look still found it's way on his face.

"But how…"

"That move is something only taught to those of the Main Branch…" Hiashi murnured with wide eyes, "Which means…"

Hanabi looked at her father with an eyebrow raised out of confusion. "Which means what?"

"He learnt it by mere sight and memorization…" Was the answer that came out of the Head's mouth.

Hanabi gaped, looking back at the spinning Hyuga with awe. "He's that good?"

The resounding echo of metal crashing against Neji's Kaiten played throughout the stadium with unpleasant clatters. The sharp-edged weapons bounced off, hitting the ground. Some disappeared with a _poof_ while others just let out a _thud_.

Naruto let out a gasp of shock. "How?!"

As Neji's spinning came to a halt, Naruto had to hold his urge rush recklessly to punch the guy in the face after seeing the smug smirk he bore.

"This is my absolute defense technique, Kaiten. I doubt Hinata-sama has told you about this move. This one of the most sacred techniques of the Hyuga's Main House. She was never on the level to gain knowledge of it."

Meanwhile, the two main overseers of the match, the Kage, had a small conversation of their own.

* * *

"It seems the Genin of Konoha are stronger than I anticipated." The Kazekage spoke out loud with a cold, alluring tone, a wicked smile hidden under the cloth covering his mouth.

Hiruzen was not fazed by this way of speaking in the slighest, and instead let out a proud smile of his own.

He nodded his head, "I agree. Neji has shown the natural prowess of a genius unrivaled by any other Genin in Konoha. He reminds me of Kakashi Hatake at the age of five."

"The age of five?" The Kage of the Sand let out a low chuckle, "Surely you jest."

Hiruzen shook his head. "I can assure you, my fellow Kage, I am telling nothing but the truth. Not to say that this generation doesn't show promise. I can see a strong fire burning within each and every one of these ninja, whether they be in the audience or in the competition."

"The Uzumaki…" The Kazekage began, moving onto a different subject, "That move he used...Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. From my knowledge, that was a technique of your creation. Please don't tell me you've picking favorites, Hokage."

"No." Hiruzen responded with a proud smile. "I taught that move to my pupil, who taught it to Naruto.

He was proud of Naruto. Truly proud. Jiraiya taught him well. Making clones of inanimate objects, _moving_ ones that, was an incredibly difficult task.

The Chakra cost is low as a trade-off. Unlike the regular Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, the Chakra isn't split between the clones. So someone with monstrous reserves like Naruto can use many times to seemingly no end.

Hiruzen took a glance at the blue-clothed ninja, causing the Kazekage's eyes widened greatly for whatever reason. He bent his body forward slightly in an unnatural manner. The air around the two Kage was great. Fierce even.

So fierce that their own respective guard would occasionally look at the other to make sure no suspicious move was made.

"If I may, Sarutobi. But...you mean to tell me that blond brat down there is a student of one of your legendary Sannin?"

"Yes…" The old man trailed off, narrowing his eyes deeply at the wide-eyed Kage. "The _Sannin…_ "

The Kazekage shifted in his chair, not taking his gaze off Sarutobi.

* * *

"Become Hokage…"

"Hmm?" Naruto stared at his enemy, picking up what he had muttered.

"Becoming Hokage. Your dream. Thinking such a thing is absurd!" Neji said with a condescending smirk, locking eyes with his whiskered opponent.

Naruto rubbed his temple roughly, washing off the drop of sweat that formed. He didn't know why, but he was getting really hot all of a sudden. And it was the kind of heat he felt when under extreme amounts of stress.

He ignored this and responded to Neji, "I swear to God! If you go on about this bullshit about destiny, then I'll beat you up so bad you won't be able to move!"

"Ah. And therein lies the problem. Destiny. I believe it does exist. And you believe it does not. A clash of ideologies. The genius vs the naive idiot. The prodigy vs the failure."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he continued to listen.

"No matter what you say, destiny will never be denied. After all, there is already proof of destiny. One that's been met by every dead man in the history of the Shinobi world. And one that we all will meet in due time. And that destiny is…"

…

…

...

"Death."

The word struck a chord in Naruto's heart for some reason. His pupils dilated slightly as repetition of the word escaped his mouth.

"Death?"

Neji gave a stone-faced nod, "Correct. Think about the history of this village. Our four Hokage: Hashirama Senju, his brother Tobirama Senju, our current Hiruzen Sarutobi, and finally Yondaime (Lord Fourth). The same four overseers of our village that watch over us today. They didn't become Hokage from _trying_ to become it. They were destined from birth to do it. _Destiny_ chose them."

Neji paused momentarily. He wanted to let this sink in before adding more salt to the wound. It was time the Uzumaki learned from his naive ways.

"This is why your pipe dream of becoming Hokage will never happen. The people of this village won't bat an eye to a dropout like you!" Neji exclaimed with a swipe of his hand. The Hyuga's eyes filled with disdain. Naruto was met with the same eyes his opponent usually looked at Hinata with. "We are all chained to a destiny at birth. And we must follow it... _obediently_ , to the end. It's impossible to try and escape it! Just like how I cannot ever escape _my_ chains. No matter how strong I get, I will never be rid of this mark...not until I _die_!"

"Can't escape your chains?" Naruto repeated out of confusion.

"So that is something else Hinata-sama didn't tell you about. The division of the Main and Side Branch." Neji's hands went up to his headband as he gripped the ends of it. He began to untie it slowly as Naruto couldn't help but feel his interest perked at what Neji was doing.

At the sight of the removal of his headband, every Hyuga watching the match immediately knew what he was talking about.

The forehead protector slipped of Neji's head, revealing the green cursed colors of the Side Branch. The two lines running across the forehead, stopping mere centimeters away from a big X.

The blond couldn't help but let out a gasp of shock. "What the hell...is that thing?!"

"A Curse Mark." Came the dry reply. "It is something the Main Branch uses the Side Branch in order to maintain control. It represents a bird with its feet caged down to its nest; its unable to ever leave its shackles."

Neji grit his teeth out of anger as he explained his past. About how he was branded with the mark at the mere age of four. How his father was the younger twin to Hiashi Hyuga.

He then went on to the day Hinata was kidnapped during the time when a representative from Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud) came to sign a peace treaty.

The infuriated son of Hizashi Hyuga ended with how his father was sacrificed to protect the Main Branch after an incident known as the Hyuga Affair occurred.

"If my father was the one born first, their roles would have been reversed!" Neji finished as he met Naruto's widened eyes. "Now do you see? Why it is futile to fight against an unchangeable fate."

He was met with silence.

"Of course...I didn't expect you to understand. After all, you don't know what it's like to be branded with a mark that sets you apart…A MARK THAT CAN NEVER BE WIPED AWAY!" Neji snapped, yelling at the top of his lungs.

Naruto took a deep breath. It was hard to comprehend. But now, he could finally understand Neji's hatred and grudge against the Main Branch.

 _So that was why he snapped at that time..._

" _DO NOT LOOK DOWN ON THE SACRIFICE OF MY FATHER!"_

The words replayed in his mind, sending a chill down his spine at the mere thought of it.

But now. He finally had an answer. Now he didn't have to lie down and let Neji throw insults down on him. He understood. He could finally respond.

"You know...it's kind of sad."

"What?!" Neji narrowed his hate-filled eyes.

"You think I don't understand…" Naruto whispered to himself. He let out a grin, "I have a mark _just_ like yours! And so? What about it? Sitting around doing nothing is going to do shit! I've learned that ever since I became a ninja! And for the record…"

He took a step forward, taking a shuriken out of pouch.

"You're a hypocritical piece of shit! You always criticize me and Hinata especially for trying our best to change our supposed destiny! But you...you claim to believe in your destiny. If that's the case, why are _you_ the one walking away! During your fight with Hinata, I could tell you wanted nothing more than to make her suffer!"

In the stands, Hinata began to hug herself. She hid herself behind her bangs, ashamed for how she never reached out to her cousin. And now, he hated her so much that he wanted to kill her with every inch of his heart.

"Your 'destiny' is to protect her! But _you're_ trying to change that by beating the crap out of her and belittling her every chance you get!"

"Shut up!" Neji bellowed, "Don't act as if you know anything!"

"You're right! I _don't_ know anything. But once you start calling others a failure and looking on them; _that's_ when you cross the line!"

Naruto darted forward, feet making a hard impact against the ground as the wind fought against his body. He grit his teeth and chucked his lone shuriken towards his enemy.

He formed the Kage Bunshin sign, "If you really _do_ believe destiny exists, then you'll have to beat me in this match to prove it! Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

One shuriken multiplied into about fifty as the throwing stars surrounded Neji.

The older boy reacted quickly. While dragging his foot across the ground, Neji began to rotate his body at incomprehensible speeds.

"Kaiten!"

Like last time, the shuriken bounced right off. This time, all except one disappeared when making contact with the ground.

As soon as Neji's spinning slowed to a halt, he saw three Naruto's right in front of him. He let out a gasp of shock.

He had been so caught up in the conversation that he didn't even notice that Naruto's other two clones were still alive and kicking.

By the time he realized, one of Naruto's clones had already connected a punch with his face.

"HELL YEAH! BEAT HIS ASS NARUTO!" Kiba shouted from the stands out of joy.

Neji planted his feet into the ground and recovered into his stance. However, due to being slightly dazed at the fact that Naruto actually hit him, he couldn't react to the kick he received in the chin.

The lavender-eyed ninja was thrown into the air by the force of the kick. And this time, he wouldn't be able to dodge any of Naruto's blows in this state.

"Let's get wild, y'know!" Naruto called out to his clones, who each formed a hand sign to make another clone, making five Narutos in total.

The four Bunshins each jumped into the air, pumping Chakra into their feet to increase the height.

Neji couldn't do anything but submit to Naruto's combo.

The first clone connected his kick, and the other three followed with a kick of their own, continuing to launch the Side Branch member into the air.

"U-Zu-Ma-Ki!" Each Bunshin recited their own syllable.

At this moment, the original Naruto took a giant, quick leap into the air. He shot past Neji's ascending body and attempted to meet him with a kick to the stomach.

"Naruto Rendan!"

The kick connected, but Neji had managed to bring his arms in front of his body just in time. Most of the pain from the strike was absorbed into his arms, but Neji still felt the burning sensation in his arms and his back when he Naruto crashed back onto the ground.

He hissed at the feeling, but he ignored it and immediately rolled away from the original Naruto. He thrusted his hand onto the ground and quickly threw himself back onto his feet. Neji narrowed his eyes as the veins on his eyes began to bulge even more.

"Now!" The brunet murmured to himself as he ducked under a punch coming from one of Naruto's Bunshins. He retaliated with his own palm strike to the chest.

The clone was blown back, letting out a cry of pain before disappearing in a cloud of white smoke.

The other three Naruto clones chose that moment to attack, each throwing their own punch in the hopes of making some sort of contact.

Said connection was not meant to be.

Without even taking a stance, Neji pictured the symbol of the Eight Trigrams.

 _Juukenho: Hakke Rokujuuyonsho (Eight Trigrams 64 Palms)!_ Neji thought to himself as he bent forward and performed a graceful yet aggressive spin. The cry of pain from a Naruto clone rang through his ears as he felt his fingers connect with his body.

Two…

 _Poof!_

Neji's head shot up at the sound. He turned on his heel and slammed two more finger strikes into another clone.

Four…

No...not yet.

The sounds of four more palm strikes crashing on the replication of Naruto could be heard throughout the stadium.

Eight…

 _Poof!_

Done. Onto the next!

 _Whoosh!_

Neji felt his hair blow from the ensuing wind from the faker's punch. He easily parried the blow, avoiding connection and carrying on with his combo. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins as his attacks picked up with more speed and power, going so fast that those from afar could barely see his hands move.

Sixteen...Thirty-Two…

 _Poof!_

 _Now for the real one!_

Neji took a strong step forward. He pushed off the ground and zipped over to the real Naruto in the span of only one to two seconds.

Before he could even react, Naruto fell victim to the last half of Neji's onslaught.

"Rokujuuyonsho (Sixty-Four Palms)!"

Hinata felt her heart drop as her mouth fell wide open in horror. Neji made the final connection to Naruto's body. The boy was thrown off his feet as bursts of Chakra entered his body to shut off the thirty-two struck tenketsu.

From where the other Main Branch members were watching Hanabi sighed. She knew it would come to this. After hearing of Hinata's condition, she went straight to the hospital to see her. She was surprised to see her sister's belief in this Naruto guy.

So much so that she actually questioned the outcome of the match for some time.

But now the result was clear.

Naruto can barely infuse Chakra now. And if Neji were to block about thirty-two more of his tenketsu, then the Uzumaki won't even be able to mold Chakra at all.

"This match is in my victory. There is no hope for you." Neji told Naruto as he witnessed his opponent rise to his feet. Understandably, as he didn't him with the full brunt force of the Sixty-Four Palms.

"Oh yeah? Well as I said before, you'll have to beat me for that to be true." Naruto said, fighting off the pain throbbing all over his body.

The Uzumaki closed his eyes. At the moment, attempting to infuse Chakra is useless. He can barely do it as it is.

His two Jutsu are practically useless now. So…

That meant there was only one other option.

He didn't want it to come to this, but he couldn't the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu), as useful as that would be right now. Yes...the other option…

The Kyuubi's Chakra.

He had to call on it. Now. Or else he would lose the match. And he could _not_ afford that! If he lost, how could he look at himself with a proud face anymore? How could he even face _Hinata_? The person he vowed to win for.

Naruto held up the Ram sign and began to focus.

Deep.

Deep where the blue lake of his Chakra was. No…

Even deeper.

Deeper.

To the depths of hell. Where the hot, burning orange Chakra burned for all eternity.

A perplexed expression wrote itself onto Neji's face as he saw Naruto practically struggling. Trying to _just_ mold a useful amount of Chakra.

"What are you doing? It's useless. All of this is just delaying the inevitable."

"Your right!" Naruto yelled, gritting his teeth so hard that they could break right off. "It is delaying the inevitable. The inevitability of me winning!"

Neji narrowed his eyes. This boy was intriguing. That's for sure. Or maybe it was just his dimwittedness growing on him. Perhaps it was both.

"You...with such an unwavering spirit. Just who _are_ you anyway?"

Naruto couldn't help but grin.

"Who am I?"

He could feel it. It was coming.

"I'm the super-awesome ninja that never goes back on his word!"

Yes! It was here! Victory was once again in his hands!

"My name…"

Now for the last push…!

A orange burst of Chakra burned around Naruto, surrounding and closing in on him.

To Neji, he could just make out the face of a fox being constructed by the Chakra above Naruto. To say that the boy was shocked was an understatement. He was completely paralyzed out of genuine fear.

"What is this...orange Chakra?!"

"My name…"

Neji took a step back as he gasped at the sight, "That Chakra...it's so dense...I can see it...even without my Byakugan!"

The Kazekage's widened his eyes at the sight of the Kyuubi's Chakra. He could have sworn he had placed a seal on the kid's stomach to mess with his Chakra. No one should have known about it…

Hiruzen in the other hand, leaned forward to get a better look at Naruto. Yeah, it wasn't just old age causing him to hallucinate. The boy was truly using the Chakra of his enslaved biju.

With the Sand Trio, Gaara looked with intrigued eyes as he saw the Chakra circle around Naruto. He had this feeling. This guy…

He was just like Gaara himself.

"My name…"

Naruto widened his eyes as the foreign substance flooded his Chakra Network like wildfire. He could feel a smoldering pain on his insides. It was as if water was trying to break down a dam. After a few moments however, something peculiar caught Neji's eye…

"His tenketsu...they're being forcefully opened! But...that's impossible!"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! And I never go back on my word! And when I say I'm going to win this match, I _mean_ it!" Naruto cried out as loud of a voice as he could muster. The Chakra circling around dissipated, seemingly gone for good.

However, the orange Chakra reappeared. This time it enveloped Naruto's body, mimicking his stance and every movement he made.

 _This power...I feel stronger than the last time._ Naruto thought to himself as he blue eyes shifted to his lavender-eyed opponent, who was currently in a state of disbelief.

"Let's test this new power out!"

This statement snapped Neji out of his trance. However, when he returned his focus to Naruto, the 12-year old had already disappeared.

Fortunately for him, his Byakugan could still pick up on his movements. While the sudden increase in speed was a shock, he could still react and dodge.

Like now!

"Kaiten!" Neji yelled, deflecting the shuriken thrown from Naruto, who was now standing on the arena's wall.

When he stopped spinning, Neji quickly picked two shuriken from the air and fished his pouch for two more. He crossed his arms and threw the weapons at Naruto.

Had this been Naruto without the Kyuubi's Chakra, he might have gotten hit by one or two of the shuriken.

But that was not the case here.

He disappeared from the wall, much to Neji's dismay.

Once again, Neji reacted. He made good use of reacting thanks to the reading capabilities of his dojutsu. But he barely dodged Naruto's punch.

However, he held his composure and took out a kunai, prompting Naruto to perform the same action. After both halting their movements, the two Genin jumped into the air towards each other.

They attempted to take a slash at each other with their sharp kunai, but to no avail. All that happened was the sound of metal weapons scratching and clashing against each other.

They both passed each other and landed back on the ground, skidding to a halt and turning around to stare down the other.

"You…" Naruto started, causing Neji to raise his head. "You're very confident in close combat, am I right?"

"Kgh!" Neji grunted as his blond opponent began stomping along the ground towards him.

As he ran, things Neji had said previously played in his mind…

" _Become Hokage. Your dream. Thinking such a thing is absurd!"_

 _That's..._

" _The same four overseers of our village that watch over us today. They didn't become Hokage from trying to become it. They were destined from birth to do it._ _ **Destiny**_ _chose them."_

 _That's..._

" _We are all chained to a destiny at birth. And we must follow it..._ _ **obediently**_ _, to the end! It's impossible to try and escape it!"_

 _THAT'S A BUNCH OF BULLSHIT!_

"It may be the Hyuga way to cave into destiny but it's not mine! If you think it's futile to fight then don't, just stand there and take it!"

Naruto was mere inches of away from Neji, ready to deliver a harsh blow.

 _Shit! I need to use Kaiten!_ Neji thought to himself as he turned off his foot, preparing to spin.

"I'll change the way of the Hyuga Clan!"

No! It was too late, Naruto had already began to clash with him!

An explosion occurred, enveloping both contestants in a white cloud of smoke. This blocked the audiences view, but if one looked hard enough, they could see two shadows being thrown backwards.

The one thing everything was sure about however, was that they heard what Naruto yelled out in the final moments.

"I make that vow with this right hand of mine!"

* * *

 **Later**

He couldn't believe it. He had lost…

He had thought that with his eyes, victory was assured. He had thought that destiny was going in his favor. But he was wrong. Dead wrong.

Now he didn't know what to believe about destiny.

Neji Hyuga...was confused.

After his clash with Naruto, he had thought the idiot was unconscious. However, Neji had made the careless mistake of not activating his Byakugan. The Uzumaki has sent a clone to play dead, while the original went underground and used his enhanced power to punch out a hole.

And then, when it was all said and done, he had erupted from the ground and gave Neji a nasty uppercut to the chin.

Not only were his reserves low, but the kid had packed quite a punch. And that was what confused him. The other times he was hit, he didn't feel it _that_ much. It merely stung for a moment and the pain eased as the match went on.

But this...Neji could still feel the pain as if Naruto had just punched him.

Then there was the conversation he just had with his uncle, Hiashi. He gave him a scroll depicted in his father's handwriting. It entailed more insight on Hizashi's death and that the latter actually chose to die. Not for the Main Branch, but for his brother, family, and the village.

It still didn't make sense to Neji however. Hizashi was a member of the Side Branch. The Side Branch had no choice but to serve the Main Branch. And that was what Hizashi did with his death.

Like always, the Side Branch was used to protect the Main Branch.

But…

The fact that Hizashi apparently did it for family and not the ties of the Main and Side Branches put a whole new perspective on the situation for Neji.

Deep down, he still hated the Main Branch for how he was mistreated along with his father and many other Side Branch members. He still held resentment towards Hinata due to her being in the Main Branch, despite the fact that she was a failure looked down on by the clan.

But now, it was as if a veil had opened inside Neji's heart. A major weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he could rest easier now.

It was still hard to rest, but nonetheless it was easier now.

 _Perhaps…_

Perhaps people really _can_ change their destiny.

* * *

The next match was supposed to be Sasuke against Gaara. However, for some reason, the former was running late. Thanks to persuasion from the Kazekage, Sasuke wasn't disqualified. The match was merely postponed.

The third match was Shino Aburame against Kankuro. Unfortunately for the bug user, his opponent withdrew from the match since he didn't want to reveal any of his techniques for the coming invasion.

The fourth match was Shikamaru Nara against Temari. Had it been an actual fight, Shikamaru would have probably won, especially if he had someone with him.

However, he was low on Chakra. Despite catching Temari with his Kagemane no Jutsu, there was no point in continuing. As a result, he surrendered as well, giving Temari the win.

The fifth match that's going to occur right now…

Dosu Kinuta vs Sakura Haruno.

* * *

 **Yo! I'm finally back. Sorry for the long delay, I've just been really lazy recently.**

 **So, this is mostly a repeat chapter. But I decided to add some differences in the Naruto vs Neji fight.**

 **So, Sakura and Dosu probably won't be a long fight regardless of who I make win. At this point, Sakura doesn't much other than Genjutsu. Sasuke against Gaara will literally be the same thing so I'm skipping that next chapter. Obviously, next chapter that means the invasion will begin.**

 **This time though, the Sound Trio will actually be a thing and not killed off like they were. Hinata won't be shafted due to some late match heart problem. And more people other than Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Shikamaru will get screen time...or is it page time? Meh, who cares!**

 **Anyways, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	18. The Fourth Match

"May the contestants for the next battle please come down. Sakura Haruno! Dosu Kinuta!" Genma called out for said contestants to hear.

"Man...Sakura's up against that Dosu guy? This isn't good…" Kiba murmured under his breath.

While she hated to admit, Ino agreed with Kiba. Although Sakura had managed to beat her, Dosu seemed to be a force to be reckoned with. The fact that only one of his Jutsu had the power to knock Choji in their match was impressive.

As far as Ino was considered, Sakura wasn't anything special in the durability department, as opposed to her Akimichi teammate.

In the stands for the competitors, both fighters took a glance at each other. They studied their respective appearance and tried to remember what they know of each other from their previous matches.

 _This girl..._ Dosu analyzed with a smirk hidden under his bandages. _Her Genjutsu is troublesome, but that's all she has going for her. Her little tricks won't work against me now! I won't even need to use this little thing..._ The Sound Shinobi placed a hand on his neck…

On the newly placed Curse Mark.

After waking from unconsciousness caused by Orochimaru's bite, Dosu and his teammates tested out the mark. To say that they were pleased with the results wouldn't suffice to describe how they felt.

They (at least Kin and Zaku) felt that no one could beat them. Yes, while that certainly was not the case at all, the power boost they received made them feel that way.

And not only that, if Orochimaru deemed their progress acceptable, he would grant them access to the second, more powerful stage of the Curse Mark…

The possibilities for power were endless in the Sound Trio's eyes.

"The fifth match: Sakura Haruno and Dosu Kinuta! Now, seeing that both of you are ready…" Genma trailed off as he dropped down his hand in between the two.

"Begin!"

"Hmph!" Dosu smirked. "I'll end this right here!" He took a step to the left and practically disappeared.

"What?! How's he so fast?!" Sakura widened her eyes. "He was nothing like this in the Forest of Death!"

Rock Lee, who had arrived with Guy to watch, looked at the field with wide eyes.

"Man! I can barely see him move!" Ino exclaimed. "The last time I saw someone as fast as this was you, Lee." A wave of concern for Sakura began to enter the Yamanaka's head. "Forehead...you better not lose!"

Ino's statement about Dosu's speed hit Lee harder than one of Might Guy's Dynamic Entries. He had worked so hard over the course of a year to get the level of speed he had...and now Dosu, a guy whom he already lost to with relative ease before, has attained speed that can be compared to his own without the weights.

And all within a month no less.

Sure, Lee could still easily beat him a footrace. The gap between their speed was still that big, but still…

"Sakura-san…" He mumbled as he saw said girl pull out a kunai with trails of wind being left behind by the blurry Dosu blowing throughout the area.

Sakura's eyes scanned the field, trying to pick up on any sign of movement from Dosu. But to no avail, she couldn't see anything. And unfortunately for her, she had no way of reading movements like the Sharingan does. She doesn't have the Byakugan or any other sort of kekkei genkai.

All she had was a kunai, some Genjutsu, and her physical capabilities.

But you would be damn wrong if you thought Sakura Haruno was going to give up.

The more she focused, she could slightly see Dosu's body moving despite the speeds he was running around her at.

"AHH!" Sakura screamed as a fist connected with her face, followed by a slash with a kunai aimed at her midsection.

The pink-haired kunoichi whimpered, pressing where the kunai had hit her. She looked down to some of her bare stomach, as part of her qipao had been torn from the kunai.

She got too caught up in looking at herself, however, and as a result she received another punch to the face. This time however, she planned a step ahead.

She threw her kunai towards the direction where the fist came from.

 _CLANG!_

Sakura's ears perked as she shot forward. She regraded the reflected kunai and thrusted it forward. Dosu turned his head to the right slightly, letting the weapon whiz by. Under the bandages covering his mouth, he smirked.

"Let's do this!" He murmured under his breath as he threw his metal gauntlet to the side of Sakura's head, a blow that she managed to block. She gasped out of shock, completely forgetting about Dosu's mechanism. "Take this!"

Sound waves flew out of the holes in Dosu's device, curing upwards and into Sakura's right ear. The girl let out a cry of pain as blood began to stream out of her ear. She glared at Dosu and endured the throbbing in her ear. Throwing up her leg, Sakura kicked Dosu in the chest, knocking him away.

Sakura placed her right hand on her ear, trying to ease the pain. Fortunately, she had reacted just on time. She still had a little bit of hearing left in her right ear. It would be back to normal soon, but she didn't expect it to come back until after the match.

Dosu easily recovered from the kick, still wearing a smirk on his face. He reached into his pouch, pulling out some shuriken before chucking them at the civilian born girl.

Sakura formed multiple hand signs, dodging the shuriken and rushing towards Dosu. The girl pulled out a kunai with a paper attached to it. She threw in Dosu's direction.

"Shit!" The Sound ninja cursed once he moved his head, dodging the kunai yet noticing the paper at the same time.

"Explode!"

Dosu braced himself by throwing out his arms out of defense and closing his eye.

 _BOOM!_

To Dosu's surprise, the burning pain never came. Also, despite the sound ringing in his ears of the bomb exploding, the sound of the kunai hitting the stadium wall lightly played in Dosu's ears.

The man widened his eyes as he looked back at the kunai…

To see a blank paper attached to it.

Dosu looked back just in time to see Sakura's fist ramming right into his face. He let out a grunt as his vision blurred temporarily from the shock. He felt a kick from the Haruno connect with his arm, causing a quick, sharp pain in the limb as Dosu grit his teeth.

Sakura threw two more punches to Dosu's face, which the latter returned by parrying the first punch and catching Sakura's hand on the second attempt.

"Impressive." Dosu spoke with an agitated tone. "I let my guard down with you. I'd never think you'd be competent enough to cast Genjutsu on me like that. To make me think the blank paper attached to the kunai was a Paper Bomb by tricking my ears into hearing an explosion…"

Sakura heard a low growling sound come from Dosu, but she chose to ignore it for now. She could hear the tightening of Dosu's free hand into a fist as his eyebrow began to twitch out of annoyance.

"The fact that I got fooled by the likes of you angers me deeply! However…" Dosu trailed off, throwing Sakura's hand away and punching her in the stomach with his free hand, causing the girl's body to crumple around his fist. "I must commend you for pulling off such a trick, as much as I hate to admit that I got tricked. I will not be outsmarted by you again."

Using his other hand, Dosu grabbed Sakura by the hair, continuing to punch her in the stomach multiple times with his other hand.

Each time a bit of air returned to Sakura's lungs, it was immediately blown out again by the next punch to her abdomen. And Dosu's metal gauntlets were only making the pain she was experiencing even more unbearable.

Meanwhile, back in the audience stands, Kiba and the others watched in horror (and anger for Ino and the dog user) as Sakura received yet another punch to the gut, causing her to cough out blood.

Unbeknownst to them, Sasuke and Kakashi had just entered the stadium, and were now silently watching the match.

With the other contestants, Gaara's eyes had widened significantly. Having been closed out of boredom before, he was now paying attention again because he had just seen Sasuke enter the stadium. The killing intent and bloodlust lurking around him increased, sending shivers down Naruto and Shikamaru's spines.

Shino Aburame, kept his eyes fixated on the match. His eyebrows would twitch with each punch connecting with Sakura's body.

Naruto, despite having grown out of his crush for Sakura, was still horrified by what was happening to her, and as a result was concerned for the jade-eyes girl's wellbeing.

Back to the match, Sakura was knocked to the ground after being on the receiving end of a strong punch to the face.

 _Damn it!_ She thought to herself as she struggled to get up. _All of that training and I still don't stand a chance?! I know I am better than this! I know I can do this! So get a grip Sakura! Focus! Focus!_

"I would advise giving up before you lose hearing completely." Dosu stated, offering a chance for Sakura to surrender.

The pink-haired ninja merely glared at him, "Like Hell I'm going to give up! You'll have to beat me down even more to make even think twice about withdrawing! And even then, I _still_ won't give up! Not until one of us is on the ground unconscious!"

"Grr!" Dosu growled, "Now you're just being an annoyance!"

Sakura pulled out a kunai as her opponent rushed forward, leading with his gauntlet. The two had a bladelock of sorts as the two weapons collided, grinding against each other's metal.

Dosu grinned as he noticed Sakura lightly panting. _This girl's chakra capacity is pitiful. At this rate, I would estimate that she can only keep fighting for a couple more minutes, and that's only if she doesn't use any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. It's over…_

Sakura grabbed yet another kunai from her pouch, grasping it in her free hand and thrusting it forward towards Dosu's shoulder. However, the kunai didn't go far as the Sound Shinobi moved his other arm, clashing his gauntlet with the kunai.

Dosu let out a malicious grin, one that Sakura could see just by the movements under the bandages. And that grin chilled her to the bone.

Sliding his gauntlet across Sakura's kunai, Dosu's hand slipped away from the weapon, before turning slightly and grabbing Sakura's wrist.

The member of the Sound Trio activated his device. However, this time, instead of sound waves flying into Sakura's ear, she felt a series of vibrations running into her arm. She let out a cry of pain, losing all feeling in her right arm as her hand forcefully let go of the kunai.

One kick to the chest later, and Sakura was sent flying backwards, tumbling across the ground. Using her good hand, she dug her fingers into the dirt, slowing her down enough to regain her footing.

She tried to flex the fingers on her right hand, but to no avail.

"I've lost all feeling in my hand...but how?!"

Dosu chuckled as he saw the predicament Sakura found herself in. "It's easy. This thing on my wrist can also emit special vibrations throughout your body. Using it on arms and legs will cause the victim to temporarily lose all feeling in the affected limb."

"No way!" Sakura exclaimed as she looked down at her arm.

Dosu closed his eye, "Unfortunately, the cooldown for this technique is large. And the window of time that your hand remains fatigued is two to three minutes at best. However…" Dosu held up his right hand, "I just so happened to have a second one of these things on my other hand. Once I get your other arm, you can kiss this match goodbye! Not that you ever had a chance anyway…"

At that moment, Dosu rushed forward, grabbing a kunai on the ground as he went by, heading right for Sakura.

Said girl readied herself, holding her kunai out at front. She was ready to defend herself against anything that her enemy threw at her.

And quite literally too, as she sidestepped the kunai Dosu had just thrown at her, followed by having to fight through a volley of shuriken coming from his pouch.

She stumbled quite a bit, as her dominant hand was currently out of commission. All she was left with was her non dominant hand. And as much as she hated to admit it, Sakura Haruno was not ambidextrous.

That didn't mean she couldn't fight. It was just a large hindrance that she could manage to squeeze through, at least until her right arm came back.

Mimicking Dosu's movements, Sakura ran forward as well. However, unlike him, she added a little surprise.

 _A burst of chakra molded down at my feet will lead to…_

Sakura leaped forward, bursting towards Dosu in an impressive sudden increase in speed with her good hand leading.

Enclosing a fist around her kunai, Sakura hit Dosu's face dead center with a single punch. The man stumbled backward, letting out a groan as he lost sense of where he was momentarily.

 _She pushed chakra to her legs in order to increase how far and fast she jumped!_ Dosu thought to himself, readjusting his view so he could analyze the approaching kunoichi. _I must end the match quickly, this has gone on long enough!_

Ducking under a swing from Sakura's left hand, Dosu clenched formed a fist and gave his opponent a nasty uppercut to the chin reminiscent of what Naruto did to Neji in order to defeat him in the first match.

In order to make sure Sakura would be out for the count, Dosu pumped a bit of chakra from the Curse Mark in order to enhance his strike.

Like Neji, Sakura was launched into the air, blood spewing out of her mouth as her head shot upwards.

"Sakura!" Ino found herself yelling out of concern as the body of her friend hit the ground.

After many moments of silence and no movement from Sakura, the proctor walked forward and spoke.

"Seeing that Sakura Haruno is no longer able to continue: Dosu Kinuta is the victor of this match!"

A sea of applause erupted from almost everyone in the crowd, satisfied by how the match went. The people in particular who weren't clapping consisted of Ino, Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, Sasuke, Kiba, Rock Lee, and a few others who either didn't like Dosu, preferred Sakura more, or just didn't care about the fight at all.

Dosu glanced up at where the Kage watched. He locked eyes (or eye in Dosu's case) with the Kazekage for a brief moment, before directing his attention to the unconscious Sakura.

He merely shrugged his shoulders and walked away, acting as if Sakura didn't fight him at all.

Immediately after he left the field, the medics came out to put Sakura's body on a stretcher. They then carried her away to get her the help she needed. She didn't suffer any lethal damage. In fact, one could say there was no need for the medics. But it was standard procedure for medics to treat the loser of a match in the Chunin Exams.

In the finals at least…

Once the medics had left the grounds, Genma cleared his throat as loud as he could, attracting the attention of the audience. Once it was mostly silent, the proctor closed his eyes.

"Well, after many delays thanks to the tardiness of Sasuke Uchiha, who is now here, what was originally the second match can now begin."

Kakashi sweatdropped, scratching the back of his head clumsily. Looks like he failed to get Sasuke into the stadium without getting a lot of attention.

 _You are as sharp as ever, Genma…_ The copy ninja thought to himself.

"Now, may contestants Sabaku no Gaara and Sasuke Uchiha please come to the field."

At that moment, Hinata turned looked behind her and up the stairs, she let out a relieved smile when she saw Kakashi and Sauske standing there.

"You made it!" She said as Sasuke walked down the stairs.

He gave her a nod of acknowledgment. Once he came to Rock Lee and Might Guy, he stopped. He looked at his senior with a serious expression on his face.

He looked down at his leg. "Don't worry, Lee. I'll make sure to get some payback for what he did to you."

Lee looked at the Uchiha and gave him a simple nod. "May the power of youth be with you, Sasuke-kun."

And with, Sasuke continued forward, jumping onto the railing before leaping onto the arena. Unlike him, Gaara used the Shunshin no Jutsu (Teleportation Jutsu) using his sand to practically teleport to the field.

"SASUKEEEEE! YOU BASTARD! YOU BETTER NOT LOSE TO THIS ASSHOLE! I WANT TO FIGHT YOU IN THIS PLACE NO MATTER WHAT, Y'KNOW!" The loud voice of Naruto Uzumaki ran through Sasuke's ears. He scoffed, turning his head up to the stands where his teammate was looking at him with a smirk.

 _He's so damn loud! Such a drag..._ Shikamaru thought to himself with an annoyed look in his eyes, covering his ears from Naruto's loud voice.

Sasuke on the other hand, let out a small smile. He raised his voice so Naruto could hear, "Shut up, you good for nothing loser! I heard you beat the Hyuga! Hmph! It looks like miracles for blockheads like you really _can_ happen. I have no intention of losing this match!"

Naruto's lips shifted into a grin, looking at his rival with a challenging expression on his face.

"Oh. And one more thing, Naruto."

"Huh?"

"Right here, in this place... _I_ want to fight you as well!"

Naruto's entire world slowed down as he heard the guy he hated in the Academy actually acknowledge him. He actually wanted to fight him…

He…

He finally was showing him some respect!

After fading for a brief moment, Naruto's smile returned even brighter than before, "You bet!"

The son of Fugaku Uchiha directed his gaze from Naruto to his opponent, staring him straight in the eyes. Gaara returned this with a wide eyed, psychotic stare of his own.

Sasuke flinched as he could see Gaara's hand trembling from what seemed to be excitement. Red veins appearing at the edges of his eyes as his deathly stare peered into the deep corners of his soul.

Genma looked at the two Genin with a blank expression on his face. However, he made sure to keep a note on Gaara. He knew that there was always something off about the boy. But now…

Something was completely wrong. Not right at all.

Gaara didn't even acknowledge the fact that his eyes were always on him.

Genma lifted his hand, keeping an eye on the ninja from Suna the entire time. "Now that you both are ready...the final match of the first round! Sasuke Uchiha vs Sabaku no Gaara…"

Sasuke bent his knees, getting ready to bolt at the first sign of movement from his maniacal enemy.

Gaara crossed his arms, unable to contain the creepy cackles escaping his lips.

 _Now, time for a good dosage of blood...Mother._

"Begin!"

* * *

 **Meanwhile-Somewhere Outside the Arena**

The loud, drawn out sound of a male yawning could be heard throughout the forest, not too far from the Chunin Exams arena. If one listened closely, they could hear the cheers of the excited audience.

However, those nearby would not be able to hear those cheers due to the frequent cursing and complaining of Zaku Abumi, one of the three members of Team Dosu.

"Fuck! Why is this taking _soooooo_ looooooong?! I can't wait to get in that damn place and get some revenge!"

"Ugh! Can you shut up already, Zaku! It's annoying enough being on the same team as you. Don't make it even worse!" Kin Tsuchi, the female member of the Sound Trio complained with disdain evident in her voice.

"Bitch, I am the _greatest_ teammate someone like you could ever get! Now, chill your tits and deal with it!" Zaku barked, immaturely sticking out his tongue as a way to mock his teammate.

Kin let out a grunt of anger, placing her hand on her weapons pouch as if to threaten Zaku. "Annoying piece of shit!"

"What did you just say to me you little bit-"

"Enough! Both of you, quiet!" A female voice interjected, causing silence to surge between Zaku and Kin as a result.

Both opened their mouths and said, "Yes mam!"

The women they responded to had fair skin, red lipstick, dark eyes, and light blue hair with long strands framing her face and a spiky ponytail to boot. She was draped in a green dress with a long left sleeve and short right sleeve along with wearing a red one piece suit underneath, topping it all off with calf-length open-toed boots.

"Captain Guren…" Kin spoke, a drop of sweat rolling down her face.

"Believe me, I hate this as much as you do." Guren stated, "I prefer to work alone. I'm only here on orders from Orochimaru-sama." The women turned to the rest of the Sound and Suna Shinobi behind her. "Alright, all of you! We will send the signal soon, so get ready!"

She smiled as she received a 'yes mam'. She turned to the stadium, looking up at the sky as a cold wind began to blow through the area.

"For Orochimaru-sama, we will not fail!"

* * *

 **I'M ALIVE!**

 **Sorry for the late update guys, I got preoccupied with some stuff this time around.**

 **So, I decided to add Guren to this fanfic. Yes, I know Guren is filler, I don't care. I liked her so I'm adding. However, I** _ **am**_ **kind of hesitant with this decision. I literally spent two days debating whether or not if I should add Guren or not.**

 **I don't think Guren will play a big role in this fic honestly. Her role will probably be as big as the Sound Four except not dying in the arc they appear in. Mostly because this addition is going to be a gamble. And plus, Guren's Crystal Release thing is fucking awesome! I really wish that was a canon Nature Transformation.**

 **Anyways, nothing much to say here. I'll be skipping over the Sasuke and Gaara fight. It will literally be the same except the fact that it was the fifth match instead of the four due to the presence of Sakura and Dosu.**

 **And, for the record, no, I did not have Sakura lose because I hate her or anything. If anything, I like her just as much as Hinata (don't know where they stand in the list of my favorite and least favorite characters though, maybe I should make a list of my favorite and least favorite on my profile page).**

 **First off, there is no way Sakura at this point, even with her slight buff in strength, would beat Dosu. The same guy who managed to beat Rock Lee albeit with a little help from Zaku and the former wearing some weights to restrict his speed.**

 **And last thing. Yes, the Sound Trio has Curse Marks now. Not the Stage 2 versions since they didn't take the stupid pill. So obviously, they have a major power boost now considering they had a month's worth of training and a boost from the seal.**

 **Anyways, that's all for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	19. Invasion

Hinata Hyuga and Sakura Haruno both blinked from their spots.

 _Feathers?_

So many feathers falling throughout the entire stadium.

They were just watching Sasuke fight Gaara. He had apparently trained himself to go nearly as fast as Lee did without his weights.

To say Gaara was getting shitstomped was kind of an understatement.

He was getting mollywhopped.

The ninja from Sunagakure (Sand Village) decided to encase himself in some sort of Sand Shield. Whatever it was, it seemed to have a mind of its own like Gaara's own stationary defense. It actually tried to attack Sasuke when he approach it.

Fortunately, Sasuke had the Chidori, which he had learned from his master Kakashi in order to counteract the shield and he seemed to actually stab Gaara's shoulder, evident by the boy's ear-screeching scream of 'MY BLOOOOOOD! IT'S MY BLOOOOOOD!'. However, as soon as Sasuke's lightning charged hand separated from Gaara, something weird happened.

Feathers started to appear out of the sky. Temari and Kankuro jumped onto the battlefield and took Gaara away, completely ignoring Sasuke in the process, much to the dismay of the Uchiha.

Then, the next _Hinata_ knew, people began to collapse all around her. One by one. Thud by thud. They were sleeping peacefully, seemingly. Out of commission, but they weren't harmed in anyway of the sort.

 _Genjutsu._

It always had to be Genjutsu. Never Taijutsu.

Genjutsu was never Hinata's strong suit. Sure, she knew some of the basic fundamentals due to studying on her own with the limited resources that she had at her disposal—particularly due to her clan's strict teachings—but she was still a novice at best and no means a professional like a Genjutsu Mistress like Kurenai Yuhi.

Taijutsu was her best area, despite the fact she wasn't competent enough with it to even be called a specialist or an expert.

 _CLANG!_

"KYAH!" Hinata squealed, immediately ducking to the ground to hide under the red chairs as cover, gripping tightly the hem of the blue shirt she decided to wear in place of her baggy jacket.

She was not prepared for battle whatsoever. She didn't even bring any kunai or shuriken or a pouch with supplies for that matter. It seems that all she had at her disposal at the moment was her Juuken (Gentle Fist) training.

She decided to stay hidden and listen. She could faintly hear the sounds of kunai clashing against each other. Bodies were being kicked and punched with eccentric shouts coming from a crazy man. Footsteps were littering and pattering all over the place just as much as the sounds of bodies hitting the floor.

What was going on here? An invasion?

If that was the case, was Suna attacking them? What for? There was an alliance between Konohagakure (Leaf Village) and Sunagakure. Attacking Konoha like this is going against said alliance.

Her hand quivered. Actual battle between possible Chunin and Jonin from another village? It was too much to consume all at once! There was no way in Hell she was taking down a Chunin much less a Jonin. Her _team_ and _sensei_ struggled against Zabuza, who was strong in his own right.

She didn't even _belong_ here.

"Hinata!" A familiar voice spoke.

Her entire world lit up as her brain matched faces with the voice.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

The copy ninja leaped backwards, landing on the chairs right above her with a kunai in hand. "I'm glad you're awake. It seems that you have a decent knack for Genjutsu."

"T-Thank you." The kunoichi accepted the complimented, slightly taken aback due to the situation.

"Hinata. I have a mission of utmost importance that you _have_ to accomplish." Hinata let out a surprised gasp as he continued, "Before I begin I would like you to wake up Naruto. He would be extremely helpful for this. Sneak over to him using your Byakugan, I'll keep-" He paused and flicked his hand, hitting away an incoming kunai. "I'll keep the enemies off your back, you just go! Can I count on you to do that?"

She nodded, though the Jonin didn't see it, her next word gave him the answer, "Yes! I'll do it, sensei!"

Though she couldn't see it due to his mask, Kakashi smiled. "Good. And while you're at it, wake up Naruto and Shikamaru." He brought his kunai to his thumb, pricking his skin and letting out blood. "As it is the most efficient of all platoons and the most used, you guys will be traveling as a 4-man cell."

"A 4-man cell? Are you the fourth person?" She asked her sensei, who shook his head.

"No. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to leave this place." He begun to form hand signs for a certain Jutsu. "I need to be here to decrease the amount of enemies in the area. This guy will join you instead…" Kakashi slammed his palm onto the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)!"

One poof of smoke later and on the back of the body Kakashi placed his hand…

Was a dog.

Hinata blanked out for a couple of seconds to comprehend this.

The fourth member of their platoon that is apparently more useful than Kakashi himself…

Is a dog.

"Yo!" The dog said, scratching his nose with a bored look in his eyes, looking like he was about to fall asleep.

"This is Pakkun. Your mission after waking up Naruto and Shikamaru is to track Sasuke. He left a couple seconds ago. Pakkun here will help chase Sasuke using his scent."

"Pleasure to work with you." Pakkun said with a nonchalant tone, jumping over the chairs to walk over to Hinata, who looked at with a confused face.

"Get going, Hinata! Now that I think about, Sakura Haruno and Shino Aburame are with Naruto and Shikamaru. They might already be awake. Head over to the fighters were!"

"Y-Yes sir!"

The lavender eyed kunoichi rose to her feet slowly, looking around to make sure no one was targeting her. She nodded to the dog, signaling it to follow her. She jumped onto the chair in front of her and pushed off with her foot, sending chakra so she could get a boost.

She leaped out of the opening and out into the arena, where she saw Genma and Baki fighting each other, kunai clashing with each other.

She stuck to the wall and ran as fast as she could, trying to make sure that she was not seen by any enemy including Baki. She didn't want to get mixed into the fight.

While she was gone, Kakashi glanced to his left to see Kurenai coming in, easily taking out some Sound ninja with well-placed punches and kunai swipes, killing some and merely knocking others out unconscious.

She looked over, seeing the unconscious Ino, Choji, and Kiba. She leaped over to them, forming a hand sign and pushing Chakra to her fingers. She lightly tapped each Genin on their forehead, effectively waking them up from the Genjutsu.

"What are you-?"

"These three have every right to fight as we do." Kurenai cut off Kakashi, not wanting any arguments in her decision. "These three are Genin. Therefore, they are Shinobi of Konoha. I'm sure that deep down they would die to protect this place. Plus, I'll be there to protect them."

Kakashi batted away under kunai, not keeping his revealed eye off Kurenai as the three Genin she tapped began to wake up. He sighed. There was no point in arguing now. She had already undone the Genjutsu. The three were going to wake up unless he knocked them out, and Kurenai would be pissed at that.

And that, was a situation he didn't want to get into when they're in the middle of an invasion.

"Very well. However, I do not support them going into battle, Kurenai."

The red-eyed kunoichi sent him a dirty look. "You're one to talk, Kakashi. You just made Hinata go out there to find Naruto and Shikamaru, then having them go track Sasuke! That is easily an A-ranked mission for a Genin."

Kakashi eye-smiled sheepishly, "You got me. Well, I've just chosen to believe in those guys. For all I know, they could die as well. The life of a ninja is unpredictable."

"Ugh!" The voice of an awoken Ino Yamanaka interrupted their short conversation. "What happened? I just saw so many feathers and then I just blacked out. Was that supposed to be part of the-EEP!" She shrieked after seeing Kakashi clash kunai with a Sound ninja, before taking control and stabbing him in the shoulder, kicking him away in the process.

Kiba Inuzuka followed Ino, letting out a long yawn. "Geez! What the hell happened? Huh? Kurenai-sensei?" He saw the serious expression on her face and knew something was up. He cut the casual talk and looked around, using his heightened smell. He widened his eyes when he picked up their scents. "Enemies. Lots of them. What's going on here?"

"There isn't much time to talk, Kiba." Kurenai told him as soon as Choji woke up, looking around the room and understanding the situation without question. No doubt thanks to training from Asuma. "We are currently being invaded."

Kiba gaped out of shock. He immediately got the memo and narrowed his eyes, putting on the most serious face he could muster. "Well, what can _we_ do?"

"Help out in the fight. You three will be under my lead, and we will have to work together in order to take out as many Sound and Sand Shinobi as possible. Let me do most of the fighting. You are only to provide support if needed. Got it?"

Kiba, Ino, and the newly Choji nodded.

Kurenai smiled as a response. "Good. Well then. Let's get out of here." She turned to Kakashi and Guy, "I assume you guys can hold down the fort here?"

"Yeah."

"Just leave it to the power of YOUTH!"

* * *

 **With Hinata**

Hinata and Pakkun jumped into where the contestants were waiting for their next match. Obviously, there wouldn't be any 'next matches' now but that was beside the point. Fortunately, once she made it in, her eyes immediately caught Shino, Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru.

"Hinata! You're alright!" Naruto exclaimed with a wide smile, grateful that his teammate wasn't hurt.

"T-There's no time to stay here." Hinata said, getting straight to the point. "Sasuke-kun went out on his own to chase Gaara. Sensei gave us the mission to pursue him!"

After hearing this info, Naruto immediately rose to his feet with an angry look on his mug. "Sasuke...that big idiot! Chasing that guy all by himself. Why would he do something so _stupid_?!"

"Naruto." Droned the voice of Shikamaru. "Can you just shut up. It's a drag, but we've been assigned a mission. So we might as well get it over with. And who's that?" He motioned over to the ninken next to Hinata.

"Oh. This is Pakkun, Kakashi's summoned ninken." She introduced the dog to the group.

"Yo!" Pakkun said, lifting up his paw.

 _It talks…_ Sakura thought to herself with a weirded out expression on her face.

"By the way," Hinata began, looking at Sakura and her male teammate. "Sakura-san, Shino-kun, I know Kakashi-sensei said only to travel as a platoon of four. But we could really use your help."

"We'd be happy to help." Sakura answered for both herself and Shino without any sort of hesitation in her voice.

Hinata sighed.

Thank goodness it was that easy.

"We should head out now." Shino spoke up, surprising the group. "Why? Because we could get a head start on any enemy that could be coming for us. Furthermore, I believe that it is imperative that two of the group branches off from the main platoon. I suggest Hinata-san and myself, due to our sensory capabilities. We'll go on ahead, and come back to report anything to you."

Sakura was stunned. Not at Shino's plan. No. She expected something like this out of the boy. His intelligence is something that is overlooked quite frequently by others due to his use of kikaichu.

What she was surprised about was that Shino actually got to finish his plan without Naruto or anyone else interrupting. They actually took the time to listen to his plan and here him out.

"Fine." Said a lazy Shikamaru. "I'll go."

Pakkun walked over to the now sitting Shikamaru. He looked up at his face, staring him directly in the eyes. The Nara locked eyes with him and stared back.

Utter silence filled the room…

Until Pakkun bit Shikamaru's leg.

"OWW! What the hell you stupid dog!" Shikamaru muttered some inaudible curse words as he shoved Pakkun's mouth off his leg and continued to rub furiously in order to ease the throbbing pain that was eating at him.

Naruto punched the ground, "We're wasting time here! What are we waiting for?! Let's go and get Sasuke!"

"You are such a drag, Naruto."

"Sakura." Shino called out his teammate, earning her attention. "Me and Hinata-san will go on ahead. You guys stay here for about a minute and follow us then. If there are enemies near us we can keep them occupied while you guys take a detour."

"Got it!"

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Zaku cackled as he awaited the two approaching Konoha Shinobi. He grinned, throwing his arms out forward. _Such predictable movements._

"Zankuuha (Slicing Sound Wave)!" He shouted as powerful bursts of energy bursted out of his arms, knocking the two ninja away and off the building, presumably killing both of them from the fall.

On the other hand, Kin grabbed a kunai from the ground and merely stabbed a distracted ninja in the back of his shoulder, prompting a cry of pain as he was stabbed in the heart by his other enemy.

Kin grinned at the brutal way he was killed in. Stabbed right through the heart. There was just no better substitute.

Dosu continuously whaled on one Konoha non with his gauntlets, causing severe head damage and probably giving the man a concussion. He kicked his now unconscious enemy away, not bothering to waste his time killing an enemy who couldn't land a shot on him.

He lowered his arms, knowing that there was no nearby enemies at the moment. "Is that all there is to these Konoha Shinobi? If so, then this is going to be an easy invasion." He stole a glance towards his teammates. He took a good look in their eyes, and he knew what was going.

He couldn't help but chuckle at their antics.

Zaku stopped what he was doing and looked at his male counterpart. "Oi, Dosu! What are you chuckling about over there?"

"Nothing important, Zaku. It seems you two are just having a warm-up. The warm-up until the real challenge...where you get your vengeance."

"Damn straight." Zaku scoffed with a neutral expression, face devoid of emotion but eyes burning with hatred towards two people. "Sasuke Uchiha and Shino Aburame. Those stuck up bastards! When I get my hands on them with this new power, I am going to tear them limb from limb!"

Kin didn't voice her opinion. But Dosu already knew of who she was thinking of.

Although she had the upper hand in their fight, the female Hyuga had humiliated her. The Hyuga alone had put up a fight with all three Oto non attacking her together. And Kin herself didn't even land a blow after she learned how to press tenketsu. And the pink-haired bitch...that fight didn't even last thirty seconds!

And now after looking back at the fight, she realized that the threat Sakura gave her when she pinned her down was all a bluff!

It angered her so much that she got made a fool out of by two female kunoichi who probably only cared about some romantic life and looking good instead of their own training.

Dosu chuckled once more, turning away from his teammates and slowly moving away.

"I suggest you two go get your revenge then, before some other person kills them. I saw that Sasuke brat chase after the Suna Trio into the forest from the arena. I suggest you check it out."

"We will." Kin said.

And with that, Zaku and Kin leaped off of the building, heading off to go get revenge.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Something didn't feel right to Neji Hyuga. He didn't know what it was, he just had this weird feeling something bad was happening. That was why he snuck out of the stadium.

He sighed, wiping the sweat forming on his brow. His match with Naruto Uzumaki had drained quite a bit of his chakra. More than he had expected actually. He was so worked up in the match that he used more chakra than he needed to.

"Neji!" The Genin tensed as he heard his name, defensively turning in the direction of the voice. He was ready for a fight, but all he was his teammate running towards him.

Guy was occupied, and Lee wouldn't be able to run anyway. That, and with the high female tone of the voice. It was pretty obvious that the teammate coming towards him was…

"Tenten." He acknowledged the girl, not particularly feeling anything about her presence.

To him, Tenten was an alright person. She could be annoying at times—especially with her banter about becoming a kunoichi as great as the legendary Tsunade Senju—but considering the fact that he was a member of Team Guy, which housed Might Guy and Rock Lee, he had to admit that sometimes it was good to have another sane person on the team.

And he was sure that Tenten felt the same way.

"Neji!" She huffed and puffed from exhaustion after seemingly running for quite some time. "Do you have any idea of what's happening?! First thing I know I'm watching the match between Sasuke and Gaara and then WHOOSH! There are just these feathers falling from the sky!"

Neji raised an eyebrow.

Ok. Maybe Tenten wasn't _completely_ sane. But she was certainly more sane than Guy and Lee _combined_.

"Then, these ninja with musical notes on their forehead protectors just pop out of nowhere and start attacking everyone! I barely managed to make it out alive!" She turned her body slightly, showing Neji her left arm.

There were two small tears on the left sleeve with blood oozing out of small cuts on her arm.

Neji narrowed his eyes.

Feathers in the sky…

Ninja with musical notes on their foreheads…

 _That reminds me...those three ninja fighting Hinata-sama back in the forest had the same symbol Tenten described to me._ Neji noted. _What could this mean…_

Finally, tears on her sleeve supposedly created by thrown kunai.

Could it be…

Neji's blood ran cold, his body tensing outwardly. Tenten noticed the sudden change in body posture as well as the worried look reflecting off of Neji's eyes. Picking up the sudden movements in his body, the girl could easily tell that something was bothering him, and that he figured out what she was thinking.

"We're being attacked."

Neji's words reflected her own thoughts perfectly. They were on the same exact page.

She looked to Neji's eyes as he heard him uttering the word, 'Byakugan'. The next thing she knew, veins sprouted near her friend's eyes, giving him nearly 360 degrees of vision for who knows how far.

After a few moments, the Hyuga prodigy's eyes widened with shock, his facial expression contorting into one of discomfort and uneasiness.

"It is as I feared. We are being attacked by numerous Shinobi from Otogakure (Sound Village). Wait!" He suddenly blurted out, causing Tenten to anxiously listen in for more. She noticed Neji's skin actually beginning to pale from fear as he began to chatter his teeth from frustration. "It's not just Oto. It's Suna as well!"

Tenten's head jerked up out of shock. "What?! B-But we have an alliance! By taking part in an attack against Konoha they are…" She trailed off as she couldn't bare to finish the next couple of words. They already knew what attacking a village you had an alliance with meant.

Certainly not good things. That's for sure.

"Here's my question." Neji spoke, curiosity ruling his eyes, "Why? Why are they doing this? What is their motive? What do they gain by breaking already forged ties and attacking with members of another foreign village? This all just doesn't make any sense whatsoever!"

Tenten could say nothing in response to that. She had the answers to none of those questions. She wished to God she did, because frankly, she wanted the answers just as much as Neji did.

"In any case…" Tenten murmured, "I guess we are expected to fight for the village. Expected to fight and die no matter what the scenario."

Neji looked down at Tenten's lower body, using his x-ray vision to pierce through the pockets. He could only see a single scroll in each of her front two pockets.

"Is that all of the weaponry you have on you?"

Tenten placed her hands in her pockets, making sure the scrolls were still there.

"Yeah. Since I didn't have to fight, I didn't come equipped for battle. I mean, I never expected an invasion from Suna and Oto out of nowhere. I only brought these in case I wanted to spar someone or if I was bored…"

Silence filled the air between the two Genin. Fortunately, it was Neji who broke it. But the words that came out of his mouth were not very enlightening or reassuring.

"Enemy incoming! About 50 meters away! Twelve O'Clock!" He brought an open palm forward, preparing himself for the approaching ninja. With his other hand, he fished out a kunai which he threw into the air. Getting the signal from his words, Tenten grabbed the kunai and stood in anticipation for the enemy as well.

"It is our first time against a foreign ninja. Do you...Do you think we'll have to k-kill him?" The brunette asked with a few stammers, her inexperience clearly getting to her and ruining her composure as a result.

Neji, while harboring doubts of his own, didn't let them ruin how he looked on the outside. His face remained a steel wall of indifference.

Soon, after many moments of waiting, their enemy finally arrived. They dropped to the ground with ease, arms slumped without a care in the world. It was a Sound Shinobi who's entire face with the exception of a single eye was covered with bandages.

Dosu Kinuta. Tenten recognized him as the man who beat Sakura Haruno in the Chunin Exams without so much as a sweat. Compared to his female teammate Kin Tsuchi, whom the Genin of Team Guy had witnessed get pinned to the ground by the pinkette.

"Oh? What luck. It's the Hyuga from the Chunin Exams who beat that other girl within an inch of her life without mercy." Dosu began by speaking of Neji's actions from a month ago.

Neji flinched, as he held a high amount of regret for what he did to Hinata the month before in their match. He had heard that she was put into cardiac arrest and that she barely survived. Thinking back on his actions after his loss to Naruto made him realize how bad he had treated his younger cousin. The one he was destined to protect.

Oh wait. Not destined. Something else…

He didn't know what it was. If it was not Destiny, then what was it that kept him being forced to protect Hinata in the past despite his previous disdain for the girl. Of course, he still disliked the former heiress to a degree but he didn't completely hate her.

Oh well, that was an answer for another time. Right now, there was an enemy in front of him. All that mattered for now was staying alive and beating the enemy...along with making sure _Tenten_ made it out alive as well.

The battle with Naruto Uzumaki changed him. Though to a blind man it would seem like he had never changed at all. To one with eyes greater than his own…

The change was immense.

"Tenten, in order to defeat him, we must work together!"

The girl's jaw dropped slightly after hearing those words. She glanced at Neji with a confused look on her face. This was _certainly_ not the same Neji she grew up with in the Academy and in a team.

The old Neji would have said nothing and just went straight to battling. He would even acknowledge his teammates existence whatsoever and only did so to look down on them or to save them out of necessity, not because they were precious to him or anything.

Though...she would be lying if she said she didn't like this new Neji more, compared to the more condescending asshole from before.

Regardless of what caused this sudden change, Tenten was glad to be fighting alongside her teammate.

"Yeah! Let's beat this asshole, Neji!"

* * *

 **With Hinata and Shino**

Both Hinata and Shino agreed to go ahead of the group on their pursuit of Sasuke. Since Hinata had her Byakugan for long-distance tracking, she could alert Shino for any enemies. The Aburame could then just head back and let the group know of any impending threat.

And even if the shaded Genin was either occupied or incapacitated, then Naruto and the others still had Pakkun with them for support.

As they jumped along through a forest, Shino detected a gasp escaping Hinata lips. He turned his head slightly to see her narrowing her eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

"Its Sasuke-kun. He and the Shinobi from Sunagakure just stopped. It looks like one of them is going to hold them off while the other two escape!" She informed the bug user.

Shino adjusted his shades, "Then we must make haste. If it's who I'm thinking of, then I would like to face him." Obviously, the Aburame was referring to Kankuro, who had surrendered before their match. Not only making Shino be forgotten but thanks to the invasion, it also stripped him of his chance to get promoted. Now was a better time than any to fight him.

It could have been him just being a little bit selfish. But for some reason Shino wanted to fight Kankuro and beat him at all costs since he didn't get the chance to in the Chunin Exams.

Without warning, he picked up the pace. Going so fast that Hinata almost didn't even notice he was gone.

"Shino-kun! Wait!" She grunted out of frustration as she sped up also in order to catch up to him. They were not that far from Sasuke and the three Suna Shinobi. Now that they stopped, the distance she was from them was about 100 meters give or take.

And with the speed they were going, they could easily make that distance in a very small window of time. Probably about a couple of seconds.

Moments later, Hinata found herself jumping out of a taller tree and onto a shorter one that both Sasuke and Shino themselves were standing on.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows, a startled expression on his face. "Hinata! You're here too?"

She nodded her head, "Yes. Naruto-kun and some others are also on their way as we speak. We came here to make sure you were safe."

"Naruto? Came to make sure that I was safe?" The Uchiha repeated, having the information process through his brain. He decided to ponder on this later and returned his attention to the Suna Trio in front of them, with Kankuro standing in front, ready to fight.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Shino stated, "Allow me to take the puppet user off your hands. We were supposed to have a fight. However, he backed out at the last minute." Though his voice held an even tone with no sense of emotion whatsoever, once could tell by what he said that Shino was slightly irked.

It was...kind of uncharacteristic of the boy. Or maybe it was completely like him to hold a grudge like this. No one knew because...well, no one really knew that much about Shino Aburame. He was one of the Academy's dark horses. The one that people didn't notice all that much along with Hinata.

Hinata, at least had her shyness and low self-esteem to make her somewhat noticeable. Shino had no qualities to make him stand out other than his 'creepy' kikaichu. So, to see him taking a stand into the spotlight right now was kind of weird.

That didn't stop Hinata from trying to offer her assistance.

She subconsciously shifted into a Juuken stance, ready to fight alongside the Aburame. Only for the boy to reject her help, much to the kunoichi's dismay.

At this moment, Temari and Gaara took their leave, with Sasuke quickly following suit. Kankuro flashed his hand towards the rookie, trying to send his puppet after him.

However, a wall of insects intercepted his puppet, courtesy of Shino. This interception allowed Sasuke to take chase on the two remaining Sand Shinobi without worry of being attacked.

"Go, Hinata-san. This is my fight to handle…alone. Why? Because I feel the need to do this myself. As this _was_ supposed to be my fight in the Chunin Exams."

"But this isn't the Chunin Exams!" Hinata argued with an insistent tone, not wanting a fellow Genin to potentially die just because he didn't accept help. "This is the real thing! A real confrontation! If you mess up once you could…"

"Hinata-san." Shino interjected with a polite and calm tone. "I appreciate the concern. However, do not fret about my life. I am fully aware that this isn't a game. It's the real thing. A real battle on the battlefield. It is what we call...war."

That response didn't make Hinata feel better in the slightest. Questions were still riddling around in her brain. Could he handle it? Was it okay to waste time here while Sasuke could eventually die?! If she left for Sasuke, would _Shino_ die?! The possible consequences of every choice she could make were too much to bare!

"Hinata-san." Shino stated again with the same tone of voice. "I may be a Genin, a low-ranking ninja with little to no power in the overall ninja system, however…"

Bugs began to crawl out of Shino's sleeves and openings that formed on his skin, allowing them to come out for assistance. It was as if they telepathically heard their master's orders and knew when and when _not_ to battle. And _now_ was the time for battle, the kikaichu had decided.

"No matter the rank, and no matter the conditions. I am still a Shinobi. A Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Leaves), to be precise. I will gladly lay down my life as a bridge for the survival of this village to walk over. Again, I may be a Genin, but I still have the responsibilities of a ninja! If I live. I live. And if I die…"

A long pause followed that as a chilling wind blew into the area.

"I will die happy knowing that I defended the homes of my friends, family, and people."

He had made up his mind. As of right now, nothing was going to change his decision. Nothing Hinata could say would persuade him, and there was no outranking official to force him away.

"Shino-kun…" Hinata whispered. She never was good at persuading people, and now her failure might just cost Shino his life! But, if he said he could handle it, then maybe…

This choice would most likely weigh on the female Hyuga's conscious for quite a while.

"A-Alright, Shino-kun. I see that there is nothing I can say to change your mind. But, no matter what happens...just make sure you win!" And with those final words, Hinata leaped off the branch, making sure to go under Kankuro so he would have a difficult time attacking her. And even if he tried, Shino would be right there to intercept him with his trusty and loyal insects.

Kankuro lifted a finger.

"Don't even think about it. If you forgot, _I_ am still here. And as long as I stand, you will not be attacking one of my comrades on my watch!" Shino informed, hands stuck in his pockets with a focused and calculating expression on his face.

Kankuro put his finger back down, wheeling around to lock eyes with Shino.

"Annoying kids! So many of you are around nowadays. It seems I'll have to take care of you before I can even think about getting back to killing that stupid girl!"

"Try as many times as you wish to kill my comrade. It will prove fruitless. Now, let's get started, shall we?"

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)!" Sasuke shouted, moving his fingers to his mouth and blowing hard, releasing multiple small volleys of fireballs towards the two Suna Shinobi in pursuit.

Temari, who had been carrying Gaara, dodged and each every single one of the fireballs. If she or Gaara were hit, then they were as good as screwed.

"T-Temari…" Her ears perked up as she heard a whisper to her left, coming from the boy was she carrying.

"G-Gaara?!" She spoke with a startled expression. Not once had she heard Gaara say her name like that. She stopped jumping from tree to tree and landed on the next one in front of her, turning around while still holding on to Gaara.

It was weird. Usually, when he used her name, it was in a sentence like 'Temari, go away or else I will kill you' or something along those lines.

The words he said next were different than usual.

"Stop worrying about me…" He mumbled as he rose to his feet, struggling to stand up against Temari's tight hold. He fought against it though, and soon, the arm was off his body. "Stop worrying about me...AND GO! You're in the way…" As he spoke, he formed a fist and gave Temari a hard punch to the stomach, blowing her away and sending her slamming into the side of a tree, landing on a branch where she spat out some blood and spittle.

Yep...completely different. Still harsh…and boy did it literally hurt like a bitch. But it was still different.

"Sasuke...Uchiha." Gaara said, a more monstrous tone taking root in his voice. "I will have your blood soon...without fail." As he spoke, Gaara leaped off the Branch with great speed, darting away from Sasuke and moving further into Konoha's forest.

His retreat prompted Sasuke to take chase as well, leaping off his tree, ignoring Temari, who had just got back onto her feet.

"Gaara...he wants to fight and kill Sasuke Uchiha." Temari muttered to herself as she walked forward a couple of steps on the branch, looking in the direction of where Sasuke and Gaara went. "If this continues, Gaara will…" Her inner musing were interrupted by the arrival of Hinata Hyuga, who stopped on a branch behind her, Byakugan activated.

She stood still for a moment, trying to remember who the girl was. She immediately brought out her fan when she realized that she was a Konoha Shinobi. And a teammate of Sasuke Uchiha at that. No doubt she was here to help out her teammate.

"I am not letting you through!" She declared with confidence.

"I was hoping I could make it to Sasuke-kun without encounter anyone else. But it seems like I can't do that now." Hinata said with defeat in her voice, bending her knees and moving her palm forward, straightening it while she chambered her right palm, showing that she was ready for a fight.

As they stared each other down, Temari couldn't help but release a smirk.

Hinata's stance loosened for a second, her morale being lowered slightly by her opponent's confidence. However, she returned to a stagnant footing, not letting Temari's stature put her down.

 _If I don't believe I can do it, then I've already lost. I am going to fight my hardest. To make the Hyuga Clan proud. And to protect my friends!_ Hinata thought to herself, igniting the fire in her eyes more and more.

"I already know that no matter what I say, you won't move out of my way...so, as much as I hate to, it seems like I'll have to fight through you!" Hinata declared with narrowed determined eyes.

"Fight _through_ me? Haha!" Temari's face contorted into a chuckle, "That's got to be the best joke I've ever heard! I saw your match against your cousin or whatever, so I know your fighting style. You specialize in CQC. Otherwise known as close quarters combat. If you got close, I admit, you'd probably _annihilate_ me. _If_ you got close. However..."

She stuck her fan to the ground, the object slamming on the Branch with a resounding BANG! She immediately picked it up again and opened to show three purple moons, showing that she was going to be serious from the start.

"You are not going to land even a single blow on me!"

* * *

 **And here we are, in the Konoha Crush arc.**

 **For obvious reasons, I won't be showing Sarutobi and Orochimaru fight because it will be exactly the same. However, thanks to his knowledge of a potential invasion, Hiruzen did prepare something before the Chunin Exams in the event that he** _ **did**_ **die.**

 **Shino vs Kankuro was a good fight, I'm not changing it.**

 **As for Kurenai, Kiba, Ino, and Choji. Don't worry, they'll come into contact with their opponent next chapter. The whole Konoha Crush might be over in 3 chapters at most. Hell, if I wanted to, I think I could finish it next chapter.**

 **Now, as for the reason for why more characters are involved is because...Kishimoto shafted them all. Out of the 12 Genin (Konoha 12, whatever), Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Shikamaru were the only ones up and running. Sure, a filler episode showed Tenten, Neji, Hinata, and Kiba doing their own thing, but that's filler. Going by canon, they did nothing.**

 **The only person who a good excuse to be out of commission was Rock Lee.**

 **Who knows, maybe I could put rants about things I don't like about anything on my profile. That'd be fun.**

 **Anyways hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Take care, goodbye!**


	20. A Crystal's Edge

Konoha was not in a good position at the moment. Currently, it was being invaded by two cooperating villages in the form of Sunagakure (Sand Village) and Otogakure (Sound Village). The Hokage was battling Orochimaru and many Shinobi were being brutally murdered.

To Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, and Choji Akimichi, the sight of fellow Leaf ninja being murdered from many directions at once made them want to puke. They were fully aware that _they_ too could end up like the bodies littering the village of Konoha.

And that would terrify any rookie Genin.

Kurenai had her fears as well. Every ninja did. However, being more experienced than the three rookies, she knew how to hide her fears and put on a brave face.

There was only _one_ thing that Kurenai feared so much that if it ever came to fruition, she would never be able to live with herself. And that was…

The death of the Genin she would look after. The death of any other ninja she was with for that matter.

Kurenai Yuhi didn't care about her own life as much as others. She could accept death gladly. If she died for those she was close to and for the village, then she would serve her purpose.

But if fresh, promising ninja died because of her...then she had no right to even _call_ herself a ninja. This was Kurenai Yuhi's greatest fear...one that she knew she would never be able to conquer.

And unfortunately for her, that fear began to rise to the surface when she saw a light blue-haired woman begin to walk towards them with a sadistic smile on her face.

Kurenai stepped in front of her Genin. She could tell just by how this person walked that she was powerful. Stronger than the three rookies combined certainly. Kurenai herself had doubts that she could beat her, but if she didn't try to, then she and the three Genin were already dead.

"You three, stay behind me!" She commanded with a firm tone. "You are not to engage battle unless I say so."

"But sensei-"

"I don't want to hear it, Kiba!" Kurenai interrupted, shutting her student up immediately. "This woman is too strong for all of you...even I don't know if I can beat her. As of right now, you guys will act as my backup!"

Ino's mouth quivered as her hands began to shake uncontrollably.

"Ease your fears, Ino. Do not let the enemy see your weak side!" The Genjutsu Mistress said with a strict voice. Her tone then softened with what she said next, "Don't worry. I swear on my life that I won't let any of you die."

"How touching." Their opponent chuckled. "Comforting students before their inevitable deaths. My heart wrenches whenever I see such poor souls." As she spoke, her hands were covered by a thin sheet of nearly transparent crystal.

Kurenai narrowed her eyes at the sight. _Shoton (Crystal Style)? That is..._

She wasn't able to finish her thoughts due to Guren beginning to dash towards them with great speed. She reacted quickly, pulling out a kunai and jumping forward.

She aimed for a slash towards Guren's body, only for the opposing women to simply lift up both of her arms in front of her. Kurenai thought she would slash right through the crystallized hands, but to her surprise the kunai stopped dead in its tracks with a loud clang.

"What?! But that's impossible!" Kiba cried out loud as he witnessed what just happened.

"Fools. My crystals could be so hard that a mere kunai would break. Obviously, it costs more chakra to increase the hardness but I think I have enough to go around!"

Kurenai gritted her teeth as she separated her kunai from Guren's crystal hands. She moved to thrust her kunai forward, hoping for a different effect. However, this time, Guren sidestepped the attack, grabbing her right arm with her left and forming a fist with her other one.

"My crystals don't just increase defense..." Guren cocked back her fist and threw it forward. It connected with Kurenai's abdomen, earning the women's long gasp as she the air in her lungs were pushed out. "They can increase my strength as well."

Guren smirked. As Kurenai was still bent over clutching her pained stomach, the follower of Orochimaru traced her hand over to her left breast, right above her heart.

"It's disappointing, I expected more from a Konoha ninja. Well, I guess this is good-bye. Shoton: Suishoutou (Crystal Style: Jade Crystal Blade)!" Extending from her forearm, a blue crystal blade appeared, piercing right through Kurenai's chest and heart, protruding out of the other side of her body with blood spewing out like a water fountain.

"KYAAAAAH/KURENAI-SENSEI!" Ino and Kiba screamed out of horror respectively at the sight. And, while Choji didn't release a scream, he was still frozen in his tracks, eyes widened from what he had just witnessed.

Guren calmly removed the blade from Kurenai's body, seemingly not fazed by her actions at all. She narrowed her eyes, when all of a sudden, she spun around on her heel while swinging her left arm at the same time.

The person behind her leaned backwards as if they were playing a game of Limbo, avoiding getting decapitated by a mere inch. The person lifted up their foot, kicking outwards and hitting Guren in the chest, causing the kunoichi to stumble backwards.

She would have stepped on Kurenai's corpse, but…

It wasn't there anymore.

"Genjutsu, eh? Not bad...this might be a little more fun now." Guren said as she looked at the person who kicked her, seeing Kurenai alive and well. She looked at the blade sticking out on her left arm to see no blood whatsoever, as she expected. "Hmm, it seems I underestimated you. Better not do that again."

"I am a Jonin of Konoha. And right now I'm going to show you what I used to achieve that rank!" Kurenai declared.

"Oh, is that a challenge? Then please, don't disappoint me! Shoton: Shuriken Ranbu (Crystal Style: Shuriken Wild Dance)!" Guren extended her arms out to her sides as multiple crystal particles formed around. They condensed into numerous shuriken as they continued to circulate around her.

One by one, the shuriken were launched towards Kurenai at high speeds.

The female Jonin placed her kunai between her teeth, making the Tiger, Hare, Boar, and Dog hand signs in rapid succession, proceeding to slam her hands onto the ground.

 _Doton: Doryuuheki (Earth Style: Mud Wall)!_ She internally recited the name of the Jutsu as a wall of material composed from the earth shot up from the ground in front of her.

"Fool..." Guren muttered with a smirk as she formed a hand sign.

As the shuriken connected with the wall, the earthen material began to crystallize. As the shuriken hit the now crystallized portions of the wall, they broke through.

Kurenai had to cling to the ground in order to avoid getting hit.

By the time Guren had thrown all her shuriken, very little of Kurenai's Mud Wall was left standing.

"Shoton allows me to convert any matter into crystal, whether it'd be physical material or the mere air. This extends to natures like earth and water, so obviously, Doton Jutsu are completely useless." Guren said with a mocking tone as Kurenai rose to her feet, kunai back in hand.

Guren held out her left arm, another crystal blade formed extending from her forearm to her hand. Armed with two blades, she ran forward. The ninja leaped into the air, prompting Kurenai to look up.

The Genjutsu Mistress also sprung into the air, holding her kunai upward, hoping to stab Guren somewhere on her body.

She miscalculated.

She didn't take into account how far the crystal blades reached, so when she tried to get close to Guren, she was forced to lean backwards to dodge the strikes thrown at her. Doing this, however, left her completely open for attack.

Taking advantage of this, Guren crashed her body onto Kurenai. The two dropped to the cold ground with a resounding thud. As she used the Konoha nin as a cushion of sorts, Guren suffered very little pain from the fall while Kurenai's back ached with it.

Guren stood up, and then readjusted, placing her knee on Kurenai's midsection to restrain her. She moved the blade on her left hand over to Kurenai's throat, prepared to cut right into it, which would in turn kill the woman.

While this scuffle occurred, three Genin Kurenai was supposed to be looking after looked on in horror, with Kiba in particular seething with anger, fist trembling and all.

This scene…

It looked familiar, and not in a good way.

Yes...it was a day he would never forget.

The day his teammate and best friend, Akamaru, got hurt on that joint C-ranked mission with Suna.

Akamaru seemed to identify with this, as a low growling sound could be heard from the ninken. And Kiba, his owner, could easily tell that the animal was remembering the same period of time he was.

"Kurenai-sensei…"

Akamaru barked with a gruff and angry tone.

"Alright, I had enough of this! Akamaru!" Kiba called out to his partner, who jumped out of jacket and onto the ground.

It all happened so fast that Ino and Choji didn't realize Kiba and a transformed Akamaru had rushed forward until it was too late.

"Gatsuuga (Fang Over Fang)!"

"Kiba!" Both Ino and Choji yelled as said boy and his partner began to rotate rapidly towards Guren in an attempt to save Kurenai.

Guren turned her head slightly to the right, glancing at the oncoming Kiba and Akamaru. She couldn't help but let out a smirk.

Taking her knee off of Kurenai and turning to the attacking Genin, all she did was throw her hands in front of herself, as a thin sheet of crystal moved to cover her entire body.

Kiba and Akamaru's attack connected, and Guren was hit in multiple areas of the body by many rapid strikes. She didn't let out a single sound as the two let out their barrage of attacks.

She tanked it all. No, it was like she was _embracing_ it.

A Genin's attack didn't mean anything to her. It just seemed like child's play dodging an attack that wouldn't even do much in the first place.

When the attack was done, Guren was thrown backwards, tumbling across the ground, making no attempt to stop herself.

"Kiba!" Kurenai exclaimed out of shock. "I thought I told you to stay back!"

"But sensei! If I didn't do anything, you would have-"

The sound of feminine chuckling made Kiba's blood go cold. He turned to where Guren's body was to see the woman standing right in front of him with a smile on her face.

He took a step back, a frozen look of fear on his face. Akamaru whimpered at the sight of his master in danger.

"I'll admit…" Guren started looking at her arms, which noticeably had cracked armor and no crystal blades. "I let you hit me. But I didn't expect that you were strong enough to break my blades _and_ slightly damage my armor as well. Not bad…"

She gripped Kiba's collar.

"For a _Genin_!"

She raised her other hand, prepared to form a crystal blade to finish the job, however…

"Ninpou: Shintenshin no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu)!"

Guren's body tensed, her mind and body being completely taken over by the will and soul of a certain Yamanaka. Obviously, due to her usage of the Jutsu, Ino's body collapsed to the ground.

Kiba gasped as he found his feet touching the ground, Guren's hand leaving his collar.

"The hell?!"

"Kiba! Get away, now!" Ino, in control of Guren's body shouted. "It's me, Ino!"

"Ino?!" Kiba repeated out of confusion before a lightbulb went off in his head. "I see...you used that one Jutsu that takes over the mind and body!"

Ino nodded frantically, "Get going, you idiot! I can't hold this Jutsu for very long! This woman...her will is strong..."

"Got it! Come on, Akamaru!" Kiba shouted. As soon as his dog barked, the two leaped away to safety.

Ino turned her head towards Choji, who had a determined look on his face. "What are you waiting for, Choji?! Hurry it up and come hit me already!"

"Understood! Baika no Jutsu (Expansion Jutsu)!" Choji's body bulged, his torso growing significantly and becoming more round as a result. "Here we go! Nikudan Sensha (Human Boulder)!"

And with that single exclamation, Choji began to storm towards Guren's body rolling at great speeds in a similar manner as a bowling ball. As Choji approached, Ino formed a hand sign.

"Release!"

Ino's mind was transferred back into her original body, and Guren was now back in control of her body. What she didn't expect was a rolling Choji coming her way.

At this moment, Guren showed genuine shock. She widened her eyes, quickly forming hand signs and throwing out a wave of chakra in front of her, immediately forming a large crystal wall in front of her which Choji crashed into.

Choji let out a battle cry as he struggled to break through the wall, but to no avail, the crystal wall seemed to be so strong that it was impenetrable to his attack.

Eventually, Choji had to stop rolling. He returned his body to its original state as he couldn't move very well in his expanded body.

Guren smirked. The three Genin had their shot at her. Now, she was going to finish them off one by one.

"It's time for you all to die!" She declared as she formed a crystal blade extending from her forearm, leaping upwards to target the closest Genin which just so happened to be Choji. "Farewell, ninja of Konohagakure!"

"CHOJI!" Ino screamed at the top of her lungs.

She pointed downward, ready to deliver a deadly blow that would more or less kill Choji. The boy couldn't help but shut his eyes and cradle up out of fear, not wanting to look into the eyes of his killer.

He waited.

And waited.

But no blade never came.

Choji opened his eyes, looking up to see Kurenai towering over him, her kunai currently in a bladelock with Guren's crystal blade.

Kurenai pushed upward, throwing her opponent up into the air and away from Choji.

"K-Kurenai-sensei…" Choji ushered the name of his savior with a pale face due to how close to the afterlife he just was.

"Don't worry, Choji." Kurenai looked at the Akimichi, giving him a smile of assurance, "I promised myself that I wouldn't let anything happen to you guys! Not under my watch."

All Choji could do at the moment was nod.

"Now, I'll say this again...let me take care of this." The red-eyed kunoichi said with a calm and comforting voice. "I will try my hardest to make sure that we end up victorious!"

From atop the crystal wall, Guren laughed loudly. Kurenai glared at the woman, not taking her eyes off of her.

"Oh please! With teammates like those, do you really think defeating me is possible?! You'll need the help of _competent_ Shinobi to even come close to beating me!"

"Then how about adding me to the mix you bitch!" A new voice yelled.

Everyone turned to the source of the voice to see Anko Miturashi dashing towards them with an angry expression. A kunai was in her hand ready to be thrown.

"Let's go, Choji!" Kurenai told the male Genin. The two of them ran away from Guren's wall undetected due to her being distracted by Anko. When they made it to safety, Kurenai turned around to what was happening between her enemy and fellow Konoha ninja.

"Oh? A new challenger approaches I see. Very well, then!" Guren jumped off the crystal wall and onto the ground, not even paying the slightest bit of attention to Kurenai and her platoon anymore.

" _No_ one gets to beat the shit out of Kurenai!" Anko shouted as threw her kunai towards Guren, only for it to bounce off of her crystal blade. "The only one who gets that right is me!" The former disciple of Orochimaru held out both of her hands. After a quick moment, multiple snakes erupted out of her sleeves.

"Snakes?!" Guren cried out loud, slamming a foot onto the ground to halt her dash, trying to retreat fast enough so she could avoid the snakes, but to no avail. The snakes slithered around her body, tightening when they move anymore and entangling Guren as a result.

Kurenai walked towards Anko, giving her a smile of gratitude. "Thank you, Anko. I appreciate the help!"

The violet-haired woman grinned. "With this, I have another one up on you, Kurenai. You seem to be slacking in your duties. Now…" She returned her attention to Guren, who was struggling against the tight grip. "While I would like to kill you right now, you might have useful information if under custody! I think Ibiki will be _overjoyed_ to see you after the battle is over."

Anko licked her lips, tightening the grip on her snakes, causing a strangled cry to escape Guren's lips.

"Anko." Kurenai said. "Don't prolong the fight by torturing her. Just knock her out now and be done with it."

The Tokubetsu Jonin pouted, "You suck, Kurenai! Ahh, fine!" Anko emplaned her foot on the ground, swinging her arms around and as a result taking Guren and the snakes along with them.

The woman let out a surprised yelp as she was launched off her feet and into the air.

"No! It won't end here!" Guren yelled, gritting her teeth as she tried to break out of the snakes.

"It won't work!" Anko called out to the aerial ninja. "I'd just give up and accept your fate you bitch! This is for trying to hurt Kurenai and those bratty Genin!"

 _No...with the speed she's swinging me, I'll lose consciousness the moment I hit something! At this rate...I'll fail Orochimaru-sama once again! And then...I'll have nowhere else to go!_ Guren thought to herself as she tried forcing her arms to break the snakes. _I cannot fail this! For the sake of Orochimaru-sama!_

Guren began to yell out loud. Not out of pain, but out of ferocity as she mustered all the strength and determination she could and pushed as hard as she could.

She knew she was strong enough! She was Guren, follower of Orochimaru and user of the rare Crystal Style. There was absolutely no way she would lose to ninja from the same village that Orochimaru abandoned!

 _SNAP!_

Anko's jaw dropped, "She…"

Guren, after forming a couple of hand signs, formed a thick sheet of crystal all over her body. She made harsh contact with the ground, twisting and tumbling more than she ever had before. She dug her right arm into the ground, her crystal blade halting her rolling to an abrupt stop.

She supported herself on a single knee, letting out deep breaths due to the air she lost from the snakes, not keeping her eyes off her opponents.

"I can't believe she broke out of your snakes!" Kurenai exclaimed with a look of worry.

"Damn it!" Guren cursed under her breath. "I can't handle the two of you at once…" She looked around to see Choji, Ino, and Kiba watching from the side, attempting to conceal their presence. They all stiffened when she laid her eyes on them.

Guren smirked.

If she couldn't _beat_ them then she could at least _injure_ them!

The next thing Anko and Kurenai knew, Guren was on her feet and storming towards the three spectating Genin, who had broken out of their trance.

The three split up so Guren couldn't take all three of them out at once.

"No!" Kurenai shrieked, immediately running after Guren with Anko following suit, frantically chucking shuriken towards her enemy in an attempt to stop her.

Due to panicking from the pressure, Kurenai screwed up her throws. almost all of her shuriken missed. Some even came close to hitting the fleeing Genin.

Only one shuriken hit Guren.

One shuriken had engraved itself into Guren's shoulder, slightly hindering her speed.

But it would make no difference.

Guren has her sights set on Choji, who certainly was not the fastest due to his size and the fact that Guren was as strong and fast as most Jonin.

She easily made it to the poor Akimichi within seconds. Slashing upwards, she sliced into Choji's back, ripping his clothes and cutting clean into his body.

"CHOJI!" Ino squealed out of concern, hating herself for being too weak to do anything at the moment.

Choji let out a scream, stumbling from the blow before fully collapsing to the ground with streams of blood gushing out of his wound.

Walking right next to Choji's fallen body, Guren stomped on the wound with all her might.

Choji screamed once again, the amount of blood coming from his wound increasing even more as a result of the damage done to his fresh wound.

"Get away from him!" Kurenai bellowed, leaping towards Choji's body and trying to give Guren a hard left hook, only for the woman to kick her away after blocking her strike.

Immediately after, Anko appeared right in front of the Sound ninja with her right arm pointed towards her.

Once again, multiple snakes flew out of her sleeve. This time, instead of entangling Guren, the snakes actually bit her on the side of her neck.

The snakes let out a pained hiss, something that Anko was not expecting, and no bite mark formed on Guren.

"Fool! I have crystal armor over my entire body! Biting me won't work on my actual body as long as this thing is still here!" Guren said with a mocking tone, proud of herself for tricking her opponent. "Now! Here is some payback from me to you!"

With her crystal blade, Guren thrusted forward, right towards Anko's heart.

The special Jonin reacted by trying to jump to the right. She managed to avoid getting stabbed in the heart, but her shoulder wasn't as lucky.

The blade impaled Anko's shoulder. The woman grabbed the blade as an instant reflex, holding back a cry of pain. She wasn't going to let her enemy get the satisfaction of hearing her feel agony.

As both fought each other in the battle for dominance over the blade, Guren glanced up to her right. She saw tall forcefields forming on the roof of a building.

She smirked. _Good…_

Guren formed another blade on her left hand, and before Anko could react, it was stuck in her remaining shoulder, leaving both of her arms unusable.

Kurenai ran towards the two as fast as she could, ready to save her friend before she could be killed. She will _not_ let someone die because of her incompetence in this fight. _Not_ today!

Seeing the Genjutsu Mistress charging towards her, Guren removed the blades from Anko and kicked her in the stomach, throwing her onto the ground.

"I think this is enough! It's already too late to save the Hokage now!"

Kurenai and Anko widened their eyes, the former skidding to a halt when she heard that and the other immediately dismissing the burning pain and blood escaping her shoulders.

"What did you say?" The messy-haired ninja questioned with a demanding and angry tone.

"I said it's too late to save your Hokage. As we speak, our leader Orochimaru is currently having a bout with your precious old man."

" _Orochimaru_!" Anko spat with venom in her voice. She just _knew_ he was behind this. His activity in the second round of the Chunin Exams made it all too obvious. She couldn't believe she didn't realize it sooner.

"Don't even try to help him out! See that thing over there!" Guren motioned over to a structure with a four-walled barrier composed of purple flames.

Kurenai's eyes flashed with fear as she saw what Guren was talking about.

"Ninpou: Shishienjin (Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation)!" Kurenai identified the Jutsu.

"Pass through those walls and you'll be incinerated instantly…you spineless _bastards_!" Anko growled. "Using such dirty tricks!"

"This is the world of Shinobi. In this world, there is no such thing as 'dirty tricks'. Guren said, curling her fingers before forming a fist. "Here, everything is fair game. You of all people should know that, being experienced Shinobi and all."

Guren looked up at her opponents.

"You know, if the two of you were constantly distracted on protecting those three Genin, you would actually be able to beat me with not that much difficulty."

"Tch!" Anko grunted, her teeth seething out of frustration. She hated it when someone would say something like that. It makes her feel like she wasn't strong enough and that if she had been stronger she wouldn't have to hear those words of pity.

"Well then, I've done my job here." Guren said with a smile, proud of herself for succeeding. "And it seems like my Bunshins (Clones) in the other areas have done their part as well. I hope to see one of you again—alive—at some point. We could fight to the death then, without any…" Guren looked at all three Genin, stopping at Ino in particular. " _Burdens.._."

After saying that, Guren leaped away, going so fast Ino and Kiba couldn't even track her movements.

Kurenai took a strong step forward, preparing to pursue the woman, but she stopped in her tracks when she remembered something. Turning around, she quickly walked over to the bleeding Choji, who was beginning to lose consciousness.

She was no medical ninja, but if she could at least stop the bleeding so the boy wouldn't die from blood loss, then that was enough.

Examining the wound, she reached into her weapons pouch, pulling out a roll of bandages. She ripped off a piece that was slightly longer than Choji's wound. She stuck the piece to the cut on his back, pressing on it delicately.

"As soon as this is over, we need to get Choji to a medical ninja immediately. As a non-medical ninja there is nothing else I can do to help him." Kurenai turned around, looking at Anko, who was looking up at the sky from the ground, blood still sleeping out of her shoulders.

Kurenai inhaled.

And exhaled.

As she walked over to Anko, who slightly turned her head to look at her.

Kurenai wore a face of guilt. She blamed herself. If it weren't for her waking up the Genin and sending them out to fight, Choji and Anko wouldn't be like this. They'd live, of course, but still…

She was hoping to use this experience as a way to teach Ino, Choji, and Kiba to a lesser extent just what the duty of Shinobi really meant. But…

She probably just made them more scared than they ever have been before.

 **With Neji and Tenten**

Neji Hyuga took a deep, heavy breath as he and Tenten analyzed Dosu, who was standing as still as a statue.

The problem with coming out of a fight and going to another one with very little rest in between is that if you consume a bunch of your chakra in the first, you'll probably be royally screwed in the next one.

He had gotten carried away in his fight against Naruto, he wasn't monitoring his chakra at all and he had kept overusing his chakra. He was too overconfident against him in their fight.

And now he was paying for it.

Fortunately, he was fighting alongside Tenten, who not only had full stamina but she also was good at far-range fighting.

"Tenten…" He murmured quietly, loud enough so only Tenten could hear. At the sound of her voicing a response, he continued. "I'll be taking point in close combat. You must support me from afar and distract him so I can get an opening."

Tenten nodded. "I understand. You can count on me! We'll take this guy down, together!"

Neji let a small smile escape his lips after that statement.

His expression turned serious once again as he rolled his fingers, stretching them out wide. He focused his Byakugan, his veiny eyes tracking the slightest bit of movements Dosu was making to the most minute and smallest detail.

Dosu moved.

Tenten threw the kunai in her hand towards him with Neji darting forward toward his target.

Dosu swatted the kunai away with his gauntlet as if it was a fly, jumping to the side immediately after to dodge a slide kick from Neji. He attempted to stomp on Neji's stomach in order to daze the boy.

This attempt would go fruitless because Neji rolled to the left, avoiding the strike. Using his hand to support himself off the ground, the prodigy performed a sweep kick towards Dosu's legs.

The Sound ninja jumped, avoiding the kick.

Neji cursed under his breath and slammed his hands to the ground, pushing himself up as fast as he could. Dosu delivered a roundhouse kick to his side, which Neji just barely managed to block with his arms.

The boy seethed from the sharp pain that ensued, throwing away Dosu's leg and lashing out with a quick and precise palm strike to the stomach.

Dosu retched, streams of blood rolling down his mouth and staining the bandages covering his chin with red.

Neji bent all of this fingers except his middle and pointer, taking multiple jabs at Dosu's tenketsu in succession. After having six of tenketsu shut off, Dosu threw his arms in front of himself, his gauntlet connecting with Neji's quick, piercing two-fingered strike.

Throwing Neji's arm to the side, Dosu gave the brunette a hook to the side of his head, something that he couldn't avoid. The Sound Shinobi stopped one inch from hitting Neji's ear, activating his metal device as sound waves traveled into Neji's ear.

Neji let out a cry of agony due to the sudden throbbing in his ear, his semicircular canals being severely damaged, causing blood to start coming out. He glared at Dosu, only to find his vision distorting.

 _So this is what happened to Hinata-sama..._ Neji thought to himself as he thought back to his cousin's fight against the Sound Trio along with the brutal beating that she endured.

Dosu stepped back, merely waiting for amusement to see the effects of his sound waves really kick in.

 _However..._

The rattling of metal could be heard as Dosu found a weapon continuously circling his body. Before he had time to react, the chains zeroed in on Dosu's body, fully wrapping him up in the weapon.

"What the-" Dosu glanced to where he last saw Tenten to see the girl suddenly a little bit closer with a kusari-fundo in her left hand and a scroll in her right.

"Neji, move now!" Using his right ear to listen, Neji nodded, stumbling away from Dosu who was trapped and powerless, unable to do anything in his current situation. "Alright! Now all I need to do is kill him!"

Tenten narrowed her eyes, ready to do the deed if it meant defending . All she had to do was bend forward and lift her foot up like a ballerina to make her aim more accurate, twirl her scroll around and squirt out the weapons.

And then he would be dead...

But then she saw the struggling look on Dosu's face. The look of a human just trying to fight for his survival.

She glanced at the scroll in her hand and back at Dosu. Her hand quivered, slightly loosening the chains restraining Dosu.

 _Can I do it?_ Tenten asked herself internally. _Can I...take the life of another person? I mean...yeah, he's trying to kill me, but…_

Tenten's hand began to shake even more. Victory was right in her hands. She could end it all right now.

So why couldn't she just do it?!

"I…" Tenten began breathing rapidly, her chest expanding with each frantic and nervous breath that she took. Her heart began to pound out of her chest, she could practically _hear_ her heart throbbing in her ears now.

"I...I can't _kill_ him...I just _can't_!" She whimpered with tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I...I don't want to become a heartless monster!"

"Tenten!" Neji yelled, his vision getting partially restored, seeing the grip on Dosu loosen even more. "What are you doing?! You need to finish him off! In the Forest of Death we had to sign a waiver that said our lives would be in danger and that we might have to kill! You were completely fine with it then, so why are you hesitating in a more _extreme_ situation?!"

"Yes, but Neji, _I've_ never had to take the life of another person before! We never went in B or A-ranked missions!"

The truth was, they never had to kill on C-ranked missions. Usually, one would not encounter enemy ninja on a C-ranked mission. It was mostly escort missions and stopping bandits, who weren't killed, merely captured and restrained considering how weak they usually are.

"Tenten! If you don't kill him now, then _he_ will end up killing _us_!" Neji shouted as an attempt to convince his teammate.

Tenten widened her eyes out of realization. If she died, she wouldn't be able to fulfill her dream of becoming a great kunoichi. And if Neji died, he wouldn't be able to change the way of his clan. If she failed, those wishes could never be fulfilled.

"Alright, I'll do it!" Tenten shouted with a determined face, preparing to twirl her scroll around, but she stopped herself when she heard the sound of Dosu chuckling.

"Fools." The restrained man muttered under his breath with a smile under his mask. "I was never in danger in the first place, whether you hesitated or not!"

Dosu closed his eyes, much to the surprise of Neji and Tenten.

"Sound...it is present in anything that makes a vibration...anything that has a voice. I have a... _special_ ability to control sound waves and frequencies. Now witness this!"

All of a sudden, Dosu's arms began to vibrate, followed by the tremor of his entire body.

"By using my chakra, I can push the sound waves created from these gauntlets into my body. With this, I can force it to vibrate! And then…"

Dosu grit his teeth under his mask, letting out a shout as he focused his chakra throughout his entire body to control the sound waves.

"Release!"

The next thing Neji and Tenten knew, they were covering their ears and nearly stumbling onto the ground as multiple shockwaves with high frequency shriek-like sounds played throughout the area.

However, since Tenten had to move to cover her ears, she ended up dropping her scroll and the kusari-fundo.

It didn't really matter anyway, as the frequency of the sound was so high that when topped with the powerful shockwaves that could knock a person down, it could shatter metal.

"No way…" Tenten gaped, completely taken aback from the action and its result.

Dosu smirked, taking a couple of moments to catch his breath. "As I was saying, when the sound waves are all gathered up in my body, by using my chakra, I can have them all burst out in one move. The combined sound doesn't directly damage the ears if used from afar, but up close one could go deaf for a few _days_!"

Sweat began to trickle down Dosu's face. He wiped it away as soon as it appeared, not wanting to show his opponent's any signs of fatigue. However, his somewhat rapid breath pattern seemed to betray the act.

 _That move consumes most of my chakra. Normally, like this, if I were to use that move a second time...I could die. But with this…_

"It's over…" As he spoke, flame-like markings began to spread around the left side of his body. His clothes blocked most of it, but his revealed eye let Neji and Tenten see the marks. Dosu widened his eyes at the sudden influx of new chakra flowing throughout his body.

"What the hell?" Neji muttered with a surprised look, scanning Dosu's chakra network with his Byakugan.

"What happened? What are those markings near his eye?!" Tenten asked her Hyuga teammate, her body shaking out of fear.

Neji furrowed his eyebrows, his feet settling to get a good base. "I don't know...but it seems like the markings are spreading from a single point on his body, located on the left side of the back of his neck. And somehow, his chakra network seems to be getting flooded by a foreign chakra."

"Foreign chakra?" Tenten repeated with a shiver. She heard a gasp escaped Neji's lips. She turned to see him looking deep in thought. "What's wrong?"

"The markings." The Side Branch member answered. "I saw the same markings on Sasuke Uchiha's body in the Forest of Death after he woke up."

Tenten's face lit up with realization. "Yeah, you're right. I remember it now…"

"Ahh, so you know about this then. If so, then you should know _just_ how much my strength has increased thanks to this!" Dosu's figure then distorted, disappearing completely in the manner of a second.

 _So fast!_ Neji thought to himself, barely able to keep track of the man's movements with his Byakugan.

"ACK!"

"Tenten!" Neji turned to his left to see a fist implanted deep into Tenten's stomach. The girl widened her eyes as all the air was thrown out of her lungs, spitting out a handful of blood as a result from the punch.

Tenten groaned out of pain as she was given a harsh sidekick to her midsection, knocking her down to the ground.

It all happened so fast that by the time Neji got out of his daze and started moving, Dosu was already right behind him.

Neji gasped, zipping around with a spear hand, trying to connect a blow with Dosu's body to at least get the chance to get some distance.

This failed.

Dosu parried the blow, grabbing onto Neji's wrist and pulling Neji towards him.

He gave the male Hyuga a knee to the gut, causing him to let out a cry of pain.

Dosu let Neji's wrist go. As he was dazed from the pain, Neji couldn't stop himself from hitting the ground.

Underneath his mask, the Sound Shinobi grinned. He placed a foot on Neji's back, bent forward and grabbed Neji's wrists, pulling his arms tightly towards him.

"You know, the Uchiha did something like this on my teammate."

After that statement, Dosu pulled as hard as he could, stretching out Neji's arms to their limit. But he wasn't satisfied with that.

He continued to pull, and not many seconds later, a loud snap could be heard throughout the area.

Neji let out a scream of agony in a similar manner to Zaku when _he_ was injured in exactly the same way.

"With this, you cannot use your hands. As far as I'm concerned, you Hyuga are very _proud_ of your precise hand striking skills." Dosu said with a cocky smirk.

"Leave him alone!"

Dosu's ears perked up, he turned his head to the source of the voice to see Tenten running towards him with a bo in her right hand and a Fuuma shuriken in her left.

With as much strength as she could muster, Tenten threw the four-pronged shuriken.

Without batting so much as an eye, Dosu jumped high into the air towards the girl, leaving Neji alone and dodging the large shuriken with relative ease.

Tenten smiled.

She had it him. You could increase your running and reaction speed. The same was not the same for one's falling speed.

Reaching into her pocket, Tenten pulled out her second and last scroll. She opened it up and began gracefully twirling around her body before adjusting and twirling it around her arm, hoisted in Dosu's direction, yet pointed below him in attempt to predict his position.

"Take this!" She yelled as a variety of weapons like swords, shuriken, spears, etc. spewed out of the scroll towards Dosu in multiple poofs of white smoke.

The male made no facial reaction. He merely held his hand out towards the weapons. Closing his eyes, Dosu focused his chakra. Sound waves erupted out of Dosu's gauntlets. And, to Tenten's shock, the waves were so strong that it actually knocked away all of the weapons thrown at him.

"Damn it!" Tenten cursed as she gripped the bo staff with both hands, prepared to strike when Dosu landed.

However, when she saw Dosu throw his second hand out _towards_ her, she backed away immediately. The Sound ninja was already _much_ faster than her, if her senses were damaged, she would be royally screwed.

 _Perfect..._ Dosu thought to himself when his feet hit the ground.

He dashed forward towards Tenten with great agility, closing the distance between them in the manner of only two to three seconds.

Reacting as fast as she could, Tenten swung her staff around from left to right , hoping to make contact but to no avail.

Dosu arched his back, essentially playing limbo with Tenten's staff for a quick moment. He reached up with his hands, grabbing the wooden staff with a tight grip. Then, in a tug of war type struggle for dominance, Dosu and Tenten kept trying to pull the bo towards them.

Dosu straightened his body to his full height, quickly giving Tenten's right leg a hard roundhouse kick in her thigh. The kunoichi blenched, the sudden pain in her leg causing her drop on one knee. Her grip on the bo loosened, and Dosu took the initiative and snatched it away from her with no difficulty.

Holding the bo tightly in his hand, Dosu kicked Tenten in the chest, knocking her to the ground lying on her back. Seeing the girl immediately try to get back up despite the pain, Dosu slammed the edge of the stolen bo staff right onto her gut.

Tenten squirmed as blood and spittle was ejected out of her mouth.

"This power...I almost forgot how incredible it is!" Dosu murmured to himself as he applied the pressure of his bo onto Tenten's abdominal area, earning whimpers of pain from the female.

 _Damn it!_ Tenten inwardly cursed herself, looking straight up at Dosu with a defeated look in her eyes. _I...I can't do anything! Had he wanted to, he could have killed me already! I'm…I'm sorry Neji..._ She glanced to her downed teammate, who had his face turned towards her with an angry and worried expression. Her heart sunk as she closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate. _I'm sorry for being so weak and useless! I'm sorry I wasn't stronger!_

What Tenten didn't know, was that the anger on Neji's face wasn't reserved for her. And the worry in his eyes was obviously not for Dosu.

It was the other way around.

"It ends here…" Dosu mumbled as he crouched down next to Tenten, still having his bo thrusted into her stomach. With his free hand, he reached over and grabbed her throat, squeezing the area as hard as he could.

Tenten's eyes shot open as she began to cough and choke like a madman. Her legs began to shake and flail around wildly as she immediately brought her hands to Dosu's hand instantly.

 _Is this...is this how I die?_ Tenten asked herself as darkness formed at the corners of her eyes, slowly beginning to spread as she could feel her life drifting away.

"Tenten!" She could hear Neji yelling out of concern, his eyes wide with fear.

"Don't worry. You're next, Hyuga." Dosu said as he dug his fingers into Tenten's throat even more, his nails digging into her skin and closing off her passage of breathing.

Tenten's shaky hands slowly began to go stiff until finally, they stopped completely, falling to Tenten's side with a thud that would echo throughout Neji's heart forever.

She was only unconscious for now, Dosu was aware of this. That's why he continued to choke the life out of her, so he could finally finish the job.

A kill well done it would have been…

If only a well-placed palm strike to Dosu's gut didn't interfere.

The ninja was thrown backwards and off of Tenten's body, opening her airway passage and therefore saving her life.

The bo in Dosu's hand fell and dropped to the ground.

After a short trip and stumble, Dosu recoiled and composed himself. He looked to where Tenten's body was to see a tall man with long blackish-brown hair with the same pupiless eyes that Neji had. His arm was stretched out in a palm formation with the Byakugan not activated.

"Hiashi-sama!" Neji immediately identified the man as Hinata's father.

"Another one of you Hyugas, eh? No matter. I'll have you join your fellow comrade over there."

Hiashi remained stone-faced, not making any sort of emotion at all. Though if one looked deep into his eyes, they could see a hint of anger.

The Head of the Hyuga clan leaped forward with a burst of great speed, disappearing in a flash.

Neji and Dosu widened their eyes as Hiashi suddenly appeared right in front of the latter, giving his chest a hard push with a well-placed Juuken strike.

The strike sent Dosu flying far back. His back crashed against the hard ground as his body skid across the ground. After coming to an abrupt halt, Dosu slowly but surely rose to his feet, his Curse Mark still supplying him with a substantial amount of chakra.

Dosu coughed out blood due to a sharp pain in his chest. His bandages were stained with red even more.

Regardless, he dashed forward as fast as he could, hoping to catch Hiashi off guard.

His attempt proved to be futile.

Dosu appeared right behind the long-haired man, throwing a chop towards the back of his neck. The Hyuga merely ducked under the blow, turning his head and throwing his hand out, grabbing Dosu by his arm.

He threw the man over himself as with as much force as possible, sending Dosu flying while upside down.

Gathering chakra in the palm of his hand, Hiashi activated his Byakugan and shot his arm towards the aerial Dosu.

"Hakke Kuusho (Eight Trigrams Air Palm)!" Using the Gentle Fist, Hiashi sent out compressed air from his palm. The attack was so fast that it went from Hiashi to Dosu in less than a second.

The high-speed compressed air made contact with Dosu's chest, once again causing him to spew out blood from his mouth as he hit the bark of a nearby tree with a sickening thud. Falling off the trunk and onto the ground where he suffered even more pain from the impact.

Slowly and more limpily this time, as he was on the verge of passing out, Dosu rose to his feet. To his utmost dismay, the markings on his body from the Curse Mark began to recede, gleaming with an orange hue as they retracted back to the left of Dosu's neck.

"Damn it!" Dosu dropped to the ground with only one leg keeping him up. "I can't keep this up...this man is too strong…" Dosu widened his eyes as he began to cough out more blood. "...must...retreat!"

With only the adrenaline pumping through his veins keeping him from collapsing on the ground, Dosu rose to his feet and leapt away through the trees.

Hiashi merely stared in his direction with Byakugan, seeing that he was making no attempt for a surprise sneak attack. He _might_ have looked defeated, but in the world of Shinobi, one cannot be too sure. One must always be aware and cautious of the enemy.

He turned to look down at the downed Tenten. Her chakra network was still functioning, which meant that she was fine. He then laid his eyes on his nephew. Analyzing his body, he could see that the boy was injured.

Slowly, he walked over to him with no sort of emotion on his face whatsoever.

Both Hyuga deactivated their Byakugans when Hiashi stopped, towering right over him.

An awkward silence filled between the two. Neither one of them was saying a word. Like it or not, there was still animosity in the Hyuga clan because of the whole Main Branch and Side Branch situation.

Regardless of his past hatred, Neji made an effort to at least stand and give the Head the proper respect he deserves.

Still, neither said a word. The only thing that could be heard was the leaves on the trees being blown by the cool breeze, and the sound of Neji's grunts and shoes dragging across the dirt as he attempted to get up, only to slip up and return to his original position.

Seeing that his nephew was struggling, Hiashi held a hand. A stretched out palm with small gaps between each finger. A signal for Neji to stop, to which the boy obliged.

After a few more moments of silence, Neji spoke.

"Hiashi-sama...not that I'm grateful for you saving my life, why did you come here?"

Hiashi looked up at the sky, the emotionless look on his face being replaced by one of sadness and reminiscence.

"Because...I made a promise...to your father—my brother. I promised him that I'd protect you. Hizashi was my precious brother, like how Hinata and Hanabi are my precious daughters. Like them, you are my precious nephew, and a precious momento of my late brother at that."

Neji looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't move his mouth to speak.

He was at a loss for words.

Hiashi looked down at him with a frown, regret creeping in at the edges of his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the harsh treatment I gave you. To you, Hinata, and Hanabi. I was angered by the loss of both my wife and brother, and I vented out at you three. Then, the pressure of finding a clan heir to take my place knowing full well that the other one of my children would be branded with the Hyuga's Curse Mark…I guess it was too much for me to handle. However, I realize that all of this does not justify all of the harsh treatment over the past couple of years."

Hiashi closed his eyes as he crouched, helping Neji get into a sitting position.

"You don't have to forgive me...but I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

A mix of emotions flashed across Neji's face in that instant, from a bit of anger, to a little bit of happiness, and a lot of sadness.

The old Neji—the one that fought and lost to Naruto Uzumaki, the same one that brutally beat up his first cousin Hinata numerous times in their training sessions and even went as far as trying to kill her in the exams—would have gone into a fit of rage and lashed out at Hiashi.

The new Neji...he was different. _He_ reacted calmly, much more calmly than the old Neji ever would.

He still hated the state of the Hyuga clan, and he wanted nothing but to change it...to change everything about it.

With a croak in his voice, his throat suddenly starting to hurt from discomfort, he spoke.

"Hiashi-sama. Do you think...do you think that someday...all members of the Hyuga clan will be able to fly together, without their wings clipped and their feet shackled?"

To an outsider, this question would make no sense at all. But to Hiashi Hyuga, the question hit him like a truck. He didn't have a definitive answer to the question, as much as he hated to admit it.

"I don't know...but rest assured, I'll do my best to make sure we can all fly someday..."

He stepped behind Neji, crouching down once again and forming a palm with his hand, much to the younger Hyuga's confusion.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"It is a supplementary use for the Juuken. It is not that hard to learn, but very few Hyuga have knowledge of this technique, even those of the Main Branch."

Neji raised his eyebrows out of surprise. "Even members of the Main Branch don't know this?"

Hiashi nodded as he jammed both of his palm onto Neji's shoulders with a small push, ushering 'Juuken' under his breath.

To Neji's surprise, he could hear a crack in his body and a sort of locking sound in both of his shoulders. He tried to move them, only to feel no sharp pains or anything of the sort. His shoulders had been moved back into their socket…

Using the Juuken?

"Thank you, Hiashi-sama. Though, may I ask, why is it that something as useful as using the Gentle Fist for fixing dislocated shoulders not known by all members of the Hyuga?"

"By tradition, any sort of healing of the body or medical ninjutsu was frowned upon by the Hyuga. If there ever was a Hyuga who knew medical ninjutsu, they would likely be deemed as weak for taking up such a role and as a result others would think they'd be useless. As, once again, by tradition, the Hyuga were born taijutsu specialists. And they've stayed that way even today."

"So aren't you going against tradition by having knowledge of this _and_ using it?"

"If It were between tradition and my friends, family, and comrades, screw tradition."

Neji continued to flex and rotate his arm, still surprised beyond belief by this new revelation.

"I wonder…" He started, rising to his feet with a small stagger. "Just what other purposes can a Hyuga be useful for other than hand to hand combat?"

"Truthfully, I do not know. The full background of the Hyuga clan is still unknown. There are rumors that the Hyuga are somehow related to the Rikudou Sennin (Sage of Six Paths). But again, they are just rumors."

"Tenten!" Neji suddenly blurted out. He was so caught up in the conversation that he almost forgot about his teammate.

"Tenten?" Hiashi repeated with slight confusion. "Ahh, your teammate over there. Do not fret, she is only unconscious."

The boy let out a sigh of relief. Finally, the rush of adrenaline disappeared from Neji's veins, and a massive wave of fatigue crashed down on the prodigy. It was like crashing after going through a sugar rush.

Neji took deep heavy breaths, struggling to stay on his feet.

"Your stamina is low. Not only is it naturally low, but it is also drained from your match against the Uzumaki." Hiashi stated as-a-matter of factly.

"Yes…I know." Neji closed his eyes. "Today, I was not strong enough to beat two enemies. I must become even stronger! Even if it is just a little bit, so I cannot ever be dead weight in a battle."

Hiashi actually smiled at the boy's resolve.

"Neji. After this invasion is over, I would like to look over your and Hinata's training. I think it is time I made up for my past mistakes. This is only an offer, I am not forcing you. So, if you wish, you may decline this offer if you so desire."

Neji stared into his uncle's eyes for a good few moments. His tight gaze softened, and a smile creeped onto his face.

He gave the man a deep bow.

"I am honored, Hiashi-sama. I will not say no to this offer."

 **With Hinata**

"Eat this! Ninpou: Kaimaitachi no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Wind Sycthe Jutsu)!" Temari exclaimed with the wave of her fan, causing a pocket of wind to lash out towards Hinata, who had jumped into the air towards the girl from Suna.

The attack sniped her out of the air easily. She was blown out of orbit and throw right into the bark of a tree behind her.

Hinata's stomach hurled, causing the girl to gag, already feeling the metallic taste of blood rise to the tip of her tongue. She turned her head to the side, her body still trying to fight the strong winds blowing at her. She willingly spit out the red substance in her mouth.

Then, without a moment's waste, Hinata stood up, cradling the tree so she didn't get blown off, and jumped to a branch on the other side, giving her protection from Temari's wind, to the point where she couldn't even feel it.

As the wind stopped, Hinata began analyzing Temari's movements...only to see none. The girl seemed to be standing still, waiting for Hinata to approach her in an attempt to land a blow, only to get blown away by the fan's wind. And in a forest area like this, there was a high chance she could injure herself somehow.

Hinata closed her eyes, thinking back to Temari's match against Tenten.

She remembered how the match ended. Temari effortlessly lifted Tenten up in the air with a vortex of wind. If she remembered correctly, the wind cut into her skin! And when she finally came down to hit the ground…

Temari was waiting with her fan.

The blow to Tenten's back wasn't severe...at least to the point where it would break it or snap her spine or something like that. However, it was very clear that the fan packed quite a punch, and if she were to get hit by that, she was as good as done.

 _The fan…_

Hinata's eyes flashed with realization. She narrowed her eyes…

So that's how she had to beat her, huh? She didn't like the idea, considering that it was a risky one, but it just might work.

Hinata nodded her head, telling herself to go forward with the idea. She had no weapons on her. No genjutsu. Just taijutsu…and some basic ninjutsu from the Academy now that she thought about it.

Her brain couldn't think of any alternative. Sure, she wasn't as smart as the likes of Shino, Sakura, Shikamaru, and a few others, but Hinata was fairly intelligent. In the Academy, she was at least one of the smartest book smart wise.

But like Sakura...in battle, coming up with strategies to use was completely foreign to her.

She was actually quite proud of herself for coming with any sort of a plan in this situation, despite how stupid it might seem.

Taking a deep breath, she rose to her feet.

She could do this! She made a vow to get stronger...stronger so she could be acknowledged as a _true_ member of Team 7 by Naruto, Sasuke, and their sensei...stronger so she could stop acting like a coward and actually attempt to change the Hyuga for the better...stronger to…

" _I'm proud of you, Hinata...my daughter."_

Stronger to _never_ disappoint her father with her fighting ability ever again!

With her morale boosted, she walked onto the trunk of tree, subconsciously pushing chakra to her knees in order to stick to the wood. She ran across, jumping off to land on a branch on the other side.

When she landed, Hinata could immediately see Temari standing there, waiting there with an irritated expression on her face.

"There you are! I was beginning to think you chickened out!"

"I'm not going to run away anymore!" Hinata declared with a fire burning in her eyes. "I will defeat you, and then go on to help Sasuke-kun!"

Temari narrowed her eyes. _That look on her face...it seems similar to the one when she faced that one kid in the Chunin Exams…_

Hinata dashed forward, crouching down and leaping high into the air when she reached the end of the branch.

Temari smirked. "Fool...Ninpou: Fuusajin no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Sandstorm Jutsu)!"

Once again Hinata was blown back into a tree. However, this time, she grabbed the trunk with her feet and the tips of her fingers, concentrating her chakra to those areas to stick to the tree as the wind lashed out at her face.

Thanks to her Byakugan, Hinata could see bundles of sand beginning to form on some branches in the forest.

After the wind ceased, Hinata removed her fingers from the tree, continuing on to run up the tree, similarly to what she had to do in Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) with Naruto and Sasuke.

Temari kept her eyes on Hinata's figure, trailing her as she went higher up the tree. She let out a gasp of frustration when she realized what she was doing.

"Damn it! She's so high up now that I won't be able to accurately hit her with my wind!" The kunoichi let out a dry smile. "Very clever. However, two can play it that game!" Closing up her fan and sliding it into the back of her sash for easier mobility, Temari mimicked Hinata's actions, going on to run up the tree with fan in tow.

Hinata smiled. She could see Temari mimicking her movements using her Byakugan.

 _Now, Hinata! You have to do this right in order to win!_ The lavender-eyed kunoichi jumped off the tree, performing a flip in midair using her flexible body, stopping in an arch position in freefall as if she was skydiving.

Temari grunted out of annoyance as she turned around to see the girl falling towards the ground. She followed suit, jumping off her own tree and immediately going into a freefalling arch position as she could feel the air blowing at her face.

Reaching into the pouch strapped to her right thigh, Temari pulled out three kunai, holding them by putting a single finger through the holes. She swiped the weapons down towards Hinata's body.

She threw them with so much force that they traveled faster than Hinata's falling speed. The girl could do nothing to defend herself from being stabbed in the back by all three kunai.

Hinata let out a loud cry of pain as her body went limp, hitting the forest ground with a bone-chilling thud.

Temari landed on the ground, looking down on the body of the female Hyuga. After seeing no signs of movement, Temari turned away, ready to go reunite with Gaara and help him out.

However, a poofing sound made Temari's body freeze.

No, it couldn't be...could it?

Slowly, she turned around to look at the fallen body of Hinata...only to see a log of wood with three kunai etched into it.

Temari widened her eyes out of shock. _Kamawiri no Jutsu (Substitution Jutsu)!_

She snapped out of her daze fast enough to dodge a rushing palm strike from behind by a certain indigo-haired Hyuga.

Hinata quickly rotated her body on her heel until she faced Temari's body retreating body, springing off the ground for a boost in speed. She chambered her right hand, prepared to unleash a deadly attack on the Sand kunoichi.

As a response, Temari leaped high into the air, grabbing the branch of a tree with her hand and pulling herself up on top of it.

Hinata followed suit, her hand still cranked back, ready for an attack.

Temari pulled out her fan. She narrowed her eyes, when Hinata landed on the branch, she charged Temari. The girl merely sidestepped her Juuken strike and jumped off the branch of the tree, opening her fan and flapping it with one strong stroke.

Like last time, Hinata was blown away, this time up and off the tree. She was about to hit her head on a branch higher up, but she managed to see with her Byakugan. Concentrating chakra to her left hand, Hinata reached out her hand and dug her fingertips into that section of the tree, sticking their successfully.

She let out a sigh of relief, she was about to fling herself onto the branch when she realized something odd about the branch at the last second.

 _Sand..._ Hinata mentally noted, flinging herself over to the trunk of the tree, focusing chakra to her feet. Before she hit the ground, she managed to land on the tree using both her feet.

She overlooked the area, seeing a grounded Temari looking up at her with a glare.

 _This is it..._ Was Hinata's thought as her feet left the hard bark. She flew through the air so gracefully in that single moment that she almost felt like she was flying.

No matter the outcome, whether she screwed up or succeeded, she knew the fight was going to end soon.

Right when her feet hit the ground, she rushed forward towards Temari. The girl waved her folding fan once again. Right before the wind lashing out, Hinata transitioned to a slide kick. However, instead of hitting Temari, she passed right between her legs.

Hinata dug her hand right hand into the dirt, using it to support herself when she turned her body and jumped back onto her feet with her left hand pulled back.

She thrusted forward towards Temari's back.

The attack connected with Temari's body. The blonde kunoichi let out a cry of pain, blood dripping out of her mouth and rolling down her chin as she was blown off her feet flying forwards. She kept a tight grip on her fan, making sure that she didn't drop it.

In midair, she turned her body so her face was looking up at the sky. Her eyes blacked out for a moment as she could feel a sharp pain forming all over her back.

Then there was the weird sensation of her body sliding across the ground that caused even more pain.

After her body stopped scraping across the ground, she endured the burning pain in her back and rose to her feet. Once on her feet, her body convulsed as she spat out a glob which shot out and splattered across the ground right in front of Temari, with some of the red liquid even splashing onto her legs.

Looking up to where the Hyuga was, she saw her standing there not more than five feet in front of her in a traditional Juuken stance, taking a deep breath to compose and relax her muscles.

"I offer you this one chance to surrender. I do not want to end up fatally wounding you." Hinata said with a serious look on her face, the veins from her Byakugan making her actually seem frightening.

"Thanks but no thanks. I need to get back to Gaara!" Temari declined the offer, holding her fan out in front of her and swinging it back and forth in one cycle. "Ninpou: Kamaitachi!"

This time, a cyclone of wind enveloped Hinata's body. The girl let out a scream as her feet left the ground, being lifted up high into the air in a very similar manner as Tenten when _she_ fought the tessen user.

Just like in that match, Hinata could feel wind scratching at her body like blades, cutting through her clothes and cutting into her skin, causing blood to ooze out.

While this happened, Temari closed her fan and planted it on the ground in front of her, holding it up like a stand.

When the wind disappeared, Hinata's still body began to fall with her face facing the ground.

Hinata looked down at the ground to see Temari's fan standing upright, just like in the Chunin Exams. Except unlike Tenten, she could actually see the metal weapon coming.

She braced herself for the pain that would follow right before she made contact with the object.

 _THUD!_

Hinata's eyes widened as her belly made contact with the fan.

"GAH! Ugh…" Hinata cried out loud as a brace of blood escaped her lips. The girl groaned out of pain as her body went limp, fully crumpling around Temari's fan. Her Byakugan deactivated, the veins near her eyes receding.

Temari tilted her fan towards the ground almost immediately after Hinata landed. Her body slipped off the tessen and onto the ground with a hard thud.

Temari looked around immediately right when the body hit the ground.

"Come on out! I already know this is a fake!" Temari yelled out loud, her eyes darting around the forest.

After a few moments of waiting, Temari froze. The next thing she knew, a palm strike was being thrusted right into her abdomen. Taken off guard by the attack, Temari was blown back with a cry of pain, dropping the fan in her hand as she flew.

Temari rebounded, sliding across the ground with her feet and nearly falling as she did so. She glared at her opponent only to panic when she saw her take a familiar stance with an activated Byakugan.

The stance she set herself in was the same as the one Neji took before shutting off Naruto and Hinata's tenketsu in their matches.

Before Temari could even react, Hinata had already taken a strong step towards her, spinning on her heel as she dealt out two piercing two-fingered strikes to Temari's side and shoulder.

"Nisho (Two Palms)!"

Temari stumbled backwards, trying to escape Hinata. However, her attempt failed, as she ended up backing up into a tree. Stuck and with no way out, Temari could do nothing but watch and feel pain as her enemy continued forward towards her with great speed, unleashing a barrage of finger strikes that shut down her tenketsu and jerked her body up with each connection.

With each strike, a burst of chakra would rupture from Temari's body, lashing out at the tree behind her and slowly causing it to crack and break apart.

"Yonsho! Hachisho! Juurokusho! Sanjuunisho!"

Hinata stopped, holding her hands in front of herself in a defensive manner.

Thirty-two of Temari's tenketsu had been shut off, and the girl's body slumped down the tree as a sign of fatigue and weakness. With a closed eye, she struggled to fully stand up as she muttered something along the lines of having to save Gaara.

Unfortunately for her, before she could continue her quiet rambling, Hinata unleashed the strongest palm strike she could muster to the blonde's chin. Temari's head shot up, hitting the bark of the tree behind her with a sickening thud.

Temari's head bounced off the tree, leaving her dazed and nearly unconscious. Her body went limp and it began to fall forward.

She didn't like doing it, but Hinata gave her an extra strong palm strike to the stomach to make sure she would stay out of the count.

She flinched as she heard Temari retch out even more blood.

Hinata removed her hand from Temari's midsection, causing the bent girl to collapse to the ground unconscious.

The former heiress looked down at Temari's unconscious form with a distraught look.

 _Not long ago...we were Shinobi from allied villages. And now...we are enemies. So this...is what a war between villages is like._ Hinata thought with a frown. She turned to the direction where she could see Sasuke and Gaara.

Scanning the deep edges of the forest, she saw Naruto, Sakura, and Pakkun taking that alternate route. They were just about to reach Gaara and Sasuke.

Wait…

 _Where is Shikamaru-kun?_

Hinata looked in another section of the forest to see multiple chakra signatures. One chakra signature was fighting all of the others but one. She immediately identified the one fighting as Asuma Sarutobi and the signature that was not in a fight as Shikamaru.

Hinata let out an exasperated sigh of relief seeing that he was alive and in good hands.

She returned sight to the area Sasuke and Gaara were in and took off.

* * *

 **OOF! It looks like I'll have to do one more chapter for the Konoha Crush arc.**

 **If I do, it's either going to be the real thing or some character between Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata reflecting on what happened in the fight, just to run things along.**

 **So, I have decided—and it's still not a 100% given if I do this—to create one or two new arcs that either take place after Konoha Crush or after Sasuke wakes up from Itachi's mindrape. The final decision is mine, but I'd like to know some of your thoughts before going forward with it.**

 **To Troutman30: Just to address this for you and everyone else in this case they were confused, if you remember, the info card that Kabuto had on Rock Lee said that he completed only eleven C-ranks, while the others were D-ranked. Since Tenten and Lee are on the same team, I'm going to** _ **assume**_ **that she has the same amount of C-ranks under her belt as Lee, the same goes for Neji. Also, Guy spent more time** _ **training**_ **than putting them on missions.**

 **Lastly, unless I'm wrong, I may or may not have written it in** _ **this**_ **chapter (and I probably should have clarified it last chapter, my bad on that), but last time I checked, C-ranked missions don't really involve conflict with other ninja. They could be escort missions, capturing bandits, things like that.**

 **One more thing, both Kiba and Naruto begged to go on a C-ranked mission for their team respectively. The Wave mission really wasn't a C-ranked mission, it was more like an A-ranked mission (in fact I think it was classified as such in canon at one point). As for Team 8, it was a joint mission with experienced Shinobi from Suna. The only reason deaths were on the mission because there were secret Shinobi among the bandits (more on that later), and Gaara killed because he's Gaara.**

 **Honestly, I don't think you'll read through all of that but I hope I clarified it at least a little bit better on** _ **why**_ **Tenten was hesitant to kill. Hopefully I didn't come off as a petty asshole during that rant.**

 **I think that's it for this chapter. Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you guys next time!**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	21. A New Mission

"CHIDORI!"

The chirping of a thousand birds rang through the forest, echoing off the barks of trees and ringing through the ears of those close enough to hear it.

Sasuke Uchiha and Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand) screamed as they jumped towards each, throwing their hand out towards the other. Sasuke with his surging hand, and Gaara with his monster hand in the color of sand.

Kakashi had told Sasuke that his limit for using the Chidori was only twice. However, due to the situation, he had to make an exception. To his surprise he could feel a small burst of chakra as he performed the move. And, like last time, it sliced right through his right monster arm like butter.

When he landed on the tree branch though, he immediately felt a sharp pain throughout his entire body. Sasuke collapsed on the branch immediately, black markings riddling over his entire body.

The Uchiha immediately tried to move his hand, but to no avail. He couldn't move a muscle. All he could do was slightly move his head, and that was it.

Unfortunately, he had collapsed in the wide open, where Gaara—who's left arm was completely enveloped in sand to form a giant arm similar to the previously destroyed right one—had clear sight of him.

And now, it was the end of him.

He could not move whatsoever. He wasted his last Chidori on an attempt that proved to be absolutely fruitless.

He screwed up. And he was going to pay for it here…

Sasuke reflected on his life, his entire world going in slow motion as he saw Gaara leap away from his tree towards, his left arm lifted upward and ready to crash down and have him see darkness forever.

His entire family-no, entire clan...massacred.

All by one man, Itachi Uchiha.

That man lied to him for all of his life. Pretended to be the loving and doting brother that Sasuke _used_ to admire.

But reality was cruel. He was a monster all along.

His goal...his only goal...his purpose for living was to kill Itachi.

And now he can't even do that now.

 _Sorry Naruto..._ Sasuke closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate. _It looks like we won't be able to have that fight we wanted…_

"SASUKE!"

Sasuke's eyes shot open at the sound of the voice. And the next thing he knew, an orange-clothed blond had kicked Gaara right in the face. The kick was _strong_ , as it blew Gaara was away by quite a couple of feet.

"Naruto. You…"

"Sasuke-kun!" Another voice rang in Sasuke's ears. This one surprised him. One second later, he heard the thud of feet hitting the branch he was lying down on. He could see at the corner of his eyes a little bit of a red qipao with a white moon-like circle.

"Sakura? What are you…"

"Just be quiet!" Sakura spoke out loud, silencing him. "Don't waste your energy talking!"

"Why are you here?" Sasuke ignored her statement and asked his question.

He got silence in return for a couple of moments before he heard the Haruno take a deep breath, beginning to speak.

"You are a comrade...a fellow citizen of Konoha and a classmate from the Academy. There is no way I'd let _anyone_ from our old class die, and that includes you too!"

"Comrade?" Sasuke repeated with a tired and confused tone. It sounded weird coming out of his mouth. The word seemed completely foreign to him, mostly because of the solitude he has went through for his entire life.

"Naruto-kun! Sakura-san! Sasuke-kun!" A third voice came out of nowhere as well.

Landing on the branch standing right next to Sakura was Hinata.

Sakura examined the girl, who had a concerned look gazing at Sasuke and then towards Naruto. She saw rips in random places of the blue shirt the Hyuga was wearing. They were particularly present on the sleeves and her midsection. The revealed skin showed fresh cuts, formed recently from something sharp.

"Are you okay, Hinata-san?" Sakura asked after seeing the cuts on her body.

Hinata nodded, not smiling because of the dangerous situation they were in.

"Hinata! Sakura-chan! Both of you get Sasuke out of here! I'll take care of this bastard!" Naruto told them, keeping his eyes on Gaara, who was beginning to release feral growls along with occasional drooling from his mouth.

Sakura gasped. "You idiot! None of us stand a chance at fighting that...monster!"

"No...you can't beat him, Naruto!" Sasuke said through deep, tired breaths. Using sheer will, Sasuke slowly exerted pressure to his hands, pushing himself up as he supported himself on a knee. "I'll...use whatever strength I have left to take him on!"

 _Naruto-kun..._ Hinata's eyes began to twitch as she looked at Naruto, who didn't waver in his decision despite the doubts he could feel radiating off of his comrades. It bothered her _so_ much! It was just like when he was younger. He was all alone. And she was just watching him take it all alone. _Not again…_

She activated her Byakugan and spoke up. "Naruto-kun. Back in Nami no Kuni, I told you how I've watched you suffer from solitude. I never worked up the courage to jut walk up to you and hold out a helping hand. I don't want to make a mistake like that again...not with you...not with _anyone_! So that's why, I will fight alongside you no matter what you say!"

 _Hinata-san..._ Sakura looked at her former classmate with surprise flashing through her eyes. The girl was so quiet in the Academy. And she had completely forgotten about her performance in the Forest of Death. This girl isn't the shy, weak girl she used to know...she was stronger. Her _will_ was stronger.

And honestly, it made _Sakura's_ will stronger as well. She was not about to lose to Hinata in terms of determination after all.

"I told you guys…" Naruto started with a low whisper before raising his voice. "Leave it to me! I'll beat the shit out of this guy _and_ protect you three at the same time!"

"You…" Gaara suddenly spoke with a hoarse voice. Naruto shivered as he set his gaze fully on the Sand Shinobi. "Those three...What do they mean to you? What _are_ they to you?" Through his tone and demonic speaking pattern, one could tell that this was abnormal even for Gaara. What little sanity he had seemed to be deteriorating within the second.

Naruto put up a strong face, not letting Gaara's intimidating demeanor get the best of him. He stared right into Gaara's demonic half-human half-demon eyes and jabbed a finger towards Sakura and his teammates.

"They're my friends!"

"F-Friends?" Gaara repeated with a stutter as a drop of saliva hit the branch he was standing on. "Is that...so? How odd...you and I are the same...yet you still try to fight for others."

 _The same?_ Hinata reminded and replayed the words with confusion. As far as _she_ was concerned, Naruto and Gaara had _no_ similarities whatsoever.

"This the perfect obstacle to prove myself. To prove my existence! I WILL DESTROY YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS! STARTING WITH THE STOWAWAYS!" With a loud roar, Gaara leaped forward towards Naruto and the others.

A panicked expression appeared on Naruto's face, turning his head to the others. "Everyone! Get out of here, now!"

"NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled.

At the sound of his voice, Naruto looked back in Gaara's direction to see him right in front of him, ready to kill no matter what the cost.

And he probably _would_ have died if Gaara didn't zip right past him and towards the other Genin, heading right for Sasuke in particular.

The next thing that happened shocked everyone, even Sasuke.

Sakura pulled out a kunai and jumped right in front of Sasuke's body, facing Gaara head-on with no hesitation.

The auburn-haired jinchuuriki widened his eyes out of shock as memories of his past began to play in his mind. A somewhat feminine-looking man with sandy-blond hair, fair skin, and violet eyes with a mug nearly identical to the face of the woman he could never meet.

 _Yashamaru…_

Gaara furrowed his eyebrows, letting out a scream as he gave Sakura a hard smack to her side with his mutated arm. The pink-haired kunoichi let out a cry of pain as she was sent flying into the trunk of the tree with a bone-chilling thud.

"Sakura-chan/san!" Naruto and Hinata yelled out respectively.

Said girl's eyes widened from the pain as she puked out a puddle of blood, which rolled down the branch and began to drip onto the forest ground. Sakura touched her right side, examining her ribs.

She winced when she made contact, knowing that the ribs on the right side of her body were bruised and maybe even cracked.

Gaara glared at the pink-haired girl before looking down at Sasuke. He raised his arm, ready to finish of the kneeled boy. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain begin to form in the right side of his head. He clasped his hand over his face, seething with furious teeth as he let out loud groans from the pain.

Unconsciously, Naruto and Hinata saw the opening and acted on their own immediately.

Naruto formed two Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones) that proceeded to leap forward and tackle Gaara's preoccupied form, flying off the tree and onto the lush green grass of the forest ground. After seeing Gaara's form disappear, he quickly told Pakkun, who had been watching the entire thing unfold, to get to a safe place.

The dog did as he was told, jumping to some trees behind Naruto and masking his presence there.

Hinata meanwhile, merely ran forward and grabbed Sasuke's body. She wasn't physically strong, so she struggled heavily when trying to carry the Uchiha's weight, but she could just barely manage to support his body as she leaped to a different tree, far away from danger.

The former heiress turned back, ready to help Sakura. However, to her surprise the girl had already jumped to the same branch she was on, albeit with a lot of difficulty of course due to her throbbing side.

"Sakura…" Sasuke spoke up, fully standing on his own with a small wobble in his legs once in a while. The girl turned and locked eyes with him. "That was the second time...you've come to my aid. Why? Why do you keep getting involved?!"

"You idiot."

Naruto and Hinata's eyes raised out of surprise when they heard those words come out of her mouth. After all, in the Academy, Sakura was tied for #1 Sasuke fangirl alongside Ino Yamanaka. They would praise him for anything he did, beating up anyone who insulted him.

But now _she_ was the one doing the insulting…

"I already told you." Sakura stated. "You are a former member of our class. And a fellow member of the rookie nine. Despite how much disdain you hold for me I...can't stand seeing you get hurt…"

Sasuke's eyes twitched when he heard those words. He had always thought that Sakura only liked him for his looks and skills. He didn't think she cared about anything else about him.

 _It seems I was wrong about you...again..._ Sasuke thought to himself.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed out loud.

Everyone turned their attention towards Naruto to see his body trembling at the sight of Gaara leaping upwards from the ground and onto the branch of a tree. The half-mutated boy was writhing and screaming as the grip he had on his forehead tightened.

Gradually, the monster portion of Gaara's body began to spread even more, with the boy's screams only becoming even louder as they echoed throughout the forest.

Soon, Gaara's entire body was turned into a yellow tanuki-like monster. Almost all traces of Gaara were gone, with the only things being left of him were the sound of his voice and the auburn hair that he sported.

Nearby, Zaku Abumi and Kin Tscuhi watched with horrified eyes at the massive killing intent that was leaking off of Gaara. Both of them didn't know how the four kids fighting him could actually withstand all of that killing intent without covering behind a tree.

Originally, they were planning to get revenge and beat the snot out of Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke—and maybe kill Naruto if he got in the way as well—however, they decided to ditch the area, thinking it was best not to get in _Gaara's_ way. With the way he was now, he would annihilate them within a second.

Back with Naruto and the others, Gaara let out a malicious grin as the pain he was feeling subsided.

"You are frustrated." He noted, his eyes darting to the blond's trembling fist. "I can see why. You are not strong enough. And the reason for that is simple. The reason you are weak is because you fight for others, unlike me. Your stupid friends are holding you back! Had you discarded them a long time ago you would have achieved great power! You _are_ me, after all."

"I am not you!" Naruto countered with a furious look on his face. "Sure, there may be a lot of similarities between the two of us, but there is one difference that outshines them all! I have my friends to support me! I don't care if Sasuke's an asshole! I don't care if Sakura hates my guts! And I don't care if Hinata is on the weird side of things! The truth is, no matter what you say, _they_ are my friends! And I would _never_ throw them away, even if it meant getting stronger! I swear on my life I will protect everyone dear to me no matter what!"

"So naive…" Gaara drooled with a smirk. "It is impossible to protect everyone. In this world where one fights for their purpose, _anyone_ can die. And as long as I fight for my existence, you will _never_ be able to protect your comrades!"

Naruto shivered at the killing intent being released into the area. It was already bad enough when Gaara was in his normal state. This was three times worse!

"Naruto…"

The Uzumaki's ears perked up at the sound of his name being called. He turned to the voice, which just so happened to be Sasuke, who was struggling to stay on his feet.

"You, Sakura, and Hinata need to get out of here. I can buy just a little bit of time."

"But Sasuke-" Naruto began to protest before being interrupted.

"I'm not listening to whatever you have to say, Naruto. Back then, I lost everything I had to the hands of my older brother. Right now…" Sasuke stood up to his full height, his eyes igniting with conviction. "I will _not_ let another person I care about die in front of me like all of those years ago!"

"Sasuke…" Naruto trailed off, looking at his teammate with a look of awe. He had just admitted that he cared about him, Hinata, and maybe even Sakura if just a little bit.

The blond closed his eyes, clearly deep in thought.

 _It's true that our end results were different, but had I remained in that dark, lonely hell with no one to care for me any longer...I could have ended just like him._ Naruto opened his eyes to stare straight into Gaara's eyes. It was similar to the feeling he had when looking into the cage or the Kyuubi, except worse since barely anything was suppressing the monster in front of him now. _That's why I understand him so well. It's because I could have ended up just like him if I took the wrong path...a path without Iruka-sensei and the others…and that's why…_

Ignoring Sasuke's plea for him and the others to run away, Naruto stood his ground and crossed his fingers, forming the sign for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu).

"I cannot fail!"

* * *

 **Three Days Later**

Hinata's eyes fluttered open, shutting themselves immediately as an instant reaction to the sight of the blinding light bleeding into her room. Everything was such a blur. What even happened yesterday.

Oh yeah...the funeral of the Third Hokage…

Hinata frowned at the thought. She hadn't seen the man that many times in the flesh. The only reason she saw him at all was because of his visits to their Academy class for a lecture or her own class' visits to him for lectures.

But to think that the Hokage was gone...and dead to Orochimaru at that...it was an unsettling thought.

Just how strong was Orochimaru? To be able to put a fight with the Hokage was a feat in it of itself, but to actually defeat him in battle is a whole other thing entirely.

She thought back to the events four days prior. Without needing assistance, Naruto had beaten Gaara. Both of the boys' strength was on another level. Naruto had summoned from what Hinata had estimated to be 1000 Kage Bunshins, maybe even more.

Then, he used the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu) to summon a giant toad. After that, to her surprise, the toad transformed. It turned into a fox that looked nearly identical to the Kyuubi, with nine tails, orange fur and everything.

That raised some questions in her head no doubt, but she didn't bother to press on the matter.

Focusing back on reality, Hinata opened her eyes, finally adjusted to the light. Stretching out her arms and legs with long, quiet groan, she rose from her bed to start her day.

There were no missions for the past couple of days due to the funeral and the reconstruction off the village. However, that wasn't going to stop Hinata from trying to get stronger.

Naruto had managed to defeat Gaara all by himself. Sasuke, while he was defeated still put up a good fight against the Shinobi from Suna. Even Sakura stepped in when it mattered most, and while she got thrown away easily, she still did something.

Hinata...she just stood there. And the only thing she did was get Sasuke's body.

She was still too weak! She was still far behind _both_ of teammates and now Sakura to a certain extent. She had fixed her confidence issues a while ago, but it seems like she still had a tendency to freeze up against stronger opponents.

Hinata walked over to her closet which was located on the right of the entrance to her room. Opening the door to her wardrobe, she looked inside, seeing many organized hangars of clothes reserved just for her.

It was mostly those baggy jackets, but she still had some casual wear in there. She also had two sets of Hyuga training attire as well. Grabbing a set of Hyuga training attire, which was a simple brown shirt, matching pants, and a mesh armor undershirt to boot.

Minutes later, after taking a hot shower and putting on her clothes, Hinata trudged onto the courtyard. She didn't know why, but something about that invasion sparked something inside of her. She didn't know what it was because originally she didn't really want to be a ninja. All she wanted was to become a person that she could like better. A person who could believe in herself.

Now, she was _glad_ she became a ninja, whether it was done forcefully or not. Now she felt like she had a purpose. She felt like was making another person's world better by being a ninja and fighting her heart out.

Digging her feet into the ground, Hinata began to run through a series of katas designed specifically for the art of striking tenketsu and the usage of the 64 Palms.

Had she wanted to, she could have asked her father to teach her a new technique, but before that, she had to learn the 64 Palms. And, if she put enough work into it, create her own variation of it to deviate from the normal Juuken style.

 _I have to become stronger..._ Hinata thought to herself as she stepped forward and performed a spin, throwing out a two-fingered strike from both of her hands. _For Naruto-kun...Sasuke-kun..._ She continued to thrust out her fingers with great speed, trying to reach the speed needed for a successful 64 Palms. _And everyone else that I care about…_

Hinata let out a cry of fury, unleashing a barrage of 32 strikes. After the flurry of jabs was over, she bit her lip out of frustration. She got the movements down, but it was still too slow.

What was it that she was missing?

"I would advise working up your stamina and base attacking speed first." A voice said suddenly. Hinata's eyes widened slightly as she recognized the voice. She turned to see her cousin Neji walking onto the courtyard with a neutral expression, no hatred hoisted at her whatsoever. "With the 64 Palms, one must need a great amount of concentration. If you try to achieve the speed of the 64 Palms without working your base speed and stamina, then you'll just waste your time with smaller progress."

"Neji-nii-san…" Hinata mumbled. She closed her eyes, awaiting the barrage of insults and yammering about destiny that would come with a conversation with Neji.

Neji's lips quivered, as if he was hesitant to say what he wanted to say.

After everything he has done to her, from physically abusing her in their training sessions to emotionally stalling her progress by constantly looking down on her and insulting her, would she accept what he wanted to say.

Regardless of what would happen, Neji spoke, but not before dropping to both knees and bending over so much that his forehead was touching the ground, similar to how Hiashi was doing it after his match with Naruto.

"I am sorry. For all of my transgressions against you, I deserve the proper punishment, Hinata-sama!"

If there were a contest for the widest eyes in Konoha, then Hinata would take first place in it with no contest.

She turned around to see the boy kneeling down, his head down on the ground practically asking for someone to step on it.

"S-Stand up, nii-san!" Hinata blurted out with a startled tone. "You don't have to bow for someone like me. Besides, if anyone is sorry, it should be me."

Neji lifted up his head, raising a confused eyebrow. "Why should it be you? I-"

"I never tried to help you when you were hurting from your father's death. I kept my distance because I was afraid of how you'd react. I thought you would hate me because...because your father died thanks to me..." She admitted with a guilty frown. "I know you still probably hate me, and I don't blame you...I've made so many mistakes with other people...including myself. The truth is...no matter how hard I try to be kind, I am selfish. I've never seen how other people suffered and only seemed to care about how I felt…"

Neji looked with shocked eyes as he heard his cousin admit all of this to him. It's weird, despite confidently fighting against him the Chunin Exams, he had still

never expected her to talk so much in one moment.

"I know you'll think I'm lying when I say this, but now I wish to change the state of our clan just as much as you do! I'm done with letting others suffer while I sit down and mope about my life all day. And the best way to change that is by helping out family."

 _Hinata-sama...I never knew she was this humble about herself…_ Neji thought to himself as he fully stood up, getting up from his knees.

So...she _genuinely_ wanted to help the clan. Neji's lips curled into a small smile at the mere thought of it.

"And that's why I have a favor to ask of you, nii-san!"

"A favor?" Neji raised his eyebrow out of confusion.

"It is clear that between the two of us you are superior. I can't even perform Kaiten (Rotation) or Hakke: Rokujuuyonsho (Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms)... And my physical condition could use some work as well..."

Yes, while it was true that she was very nimble and flexible, she was lacking in the stamina department. Her strength and speed could be better as well. Considering that Neji's sensei was the taijutsu specialist Might Guy, it was a no-brainer that Hinata asked _him_ for help.

"I...I'd like for you to help me in my training...if it's not too much trouble, of course." Hinata said slowly with an awkward tone, her eyes drifting to the side before returning to Neji's face. "If I want to change the state of the clan, then I should be learning more about it. Father told me he would train me again, but he is busy as the Head."

Neji closed his eyes, pondering on his decision. He thought about it for a good couple of moments. On one hand, he didn't know if he could balance his own training time with his team along with the time he had on duty _on top of_ training Hinata. But he supposed that with some adjustments he could make it work.

Neji's eyes brightened as he spoke. "I suppose I can make it work. However, I will not be easy on you, Hinata-sama."

Right after he spoke, Hinata's lips opened into a small grin, much to Neji's confusion.

"What is it?"

Hinata smiled. "Nothing. Thank you so much, nii-san! I'll make sure to pay you back somehow!"

"Very well, then. I shall see you later, Hinata-sama." Neji said with a bow. After Hinata returned the farewell, the member of Team Guy found himself leaving the compound.

Hinata continued to smile even as he left. She didn't think even Neji knew what he was doing that made her smile. She was just _so_ happy. It was hard to describe it in words, but what he did today made her happy. No, it wasn't the fact that Neji accepted her plead. While that did make her happy, it was something else that made her more happy.

He smiled.

Neji genuinely smiled.

It wasn't a smile of superiority or maliciousness. It was a light-hearted happy smile. Something she hadn't seen from the boy since the time they met…

On the day of her third birthday.

Nine years. That's how long it had been since that fateful night.

Hinata shook her head from the thought. She figuratively and literally slapped herself back into reality. Now was not the time to dwell on the past. _Now_ was the time to dwell on the present.

Not fazing from the stinging on her cheek, Hinata Hyuga activated her Byakugan and took her stance.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Shikaku Nara had to refrain himself from yawning during this emergency meeting.

 _So troublesome…_

He glanced past the Anbu commander sitting to his right and set his sight on the person next to the masked man. He looked at the bandaged old man two seats away from himself with a look of revulsion.

Danzo Shimura…

Notoriously known for his given title the Shinobi of Darkness, Danzo was the biggest rat Shikaku has ever laid his eyes upon. He hadn't heard from the old man since the year of the Uchiha massacre, where he claimed that Itachi Uchiha had gone bad and subsequently butchered his entire clan.

Following that, he noticeably disappeared, with the Sandaime Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi disbanding his secret organization Root along with stripping his position in the Konoha council to boot.

Now, with the old Hokage dead, he's made his presence known once again. As he is one of the village's oldest and 'wisest', he was allowed into the meeting for his position on who the topic being discussed.

Who should succeed the late Hiruzen Sarutobi as the Godaime Hokage?

Next to Danzo was Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. Across from them all was the daimyo's committee. And, of course, sitting at the end of the table was the fire daimyo, who was sitting in a special throne-like chair with the symbol for fire posted on it behind him.

"It is quite a shame that Hiruzen has passed in this recent invasion. That being said...he had it coming. Those too weak to even kill a deranged rogue ninja are bound to perish pitifully." Danzo said, no emotion present in his voice whatsoever at the news of Sarutobi's death.

"You may be right. However, saying something like that only makes you a hypocrite." The member of the daimyo's committee sitting across from him spoke. "After all, you were never present in the invasion of Konohagakure when it was attacked by Otogakure and Sunagakure. In fact, until now you haven't been seen for about four years."

Danzo growled, his revealed eye showing a confines of anger, one of the only emotions that the man could ever be caught feeling.

Shikaku had to hold back a smile of satisfaction at that moment. Out of everyone in Konoha, the only person he really hated was Danzo, so seeing him get put down like this made him happy.

He didn't _why_ he hated Danzo. He just did. There was something about the man.

Most likely it was his immoral ideals of leading a village. Or maybe it was something else. No matter what, the man was untrustworthy. In fact, Shikaku bet a million yen that something was up with the Itachi's massacre of the Uchiha.

He didn't know the boy that well, but he seemed much too loyal to the village to suddenly turn around and betray everyone. When _Danzo_ said that Itachi butchered his clan, Shikaku immediately raised some eyebrows. It seems like he was the only one however, as no one else spoke up about any suspicions.

Had it been Hiruzen who gave the message, Shikaku would have been _much_ more likely to believe it.

Fortunately or unfortunately, that wasn't the case…

He tuned back into reality when he heard the former leader of Root clear his throat.

"Enough about my actions. We must get back to the topic at hand, and that is the election of a new Hokage. Hiruzen's line of rule was weak and puny. Look at the Shodaime and Nidaime! The efforts of the first two Hokage brought great military strength to our land. If Hiruzen never became Hokage, then the Uchiha could have been alive today! Itachi would still be within our ranks, and Orochimaru would not be any sort of a threat!" Danzo yelled, trying to reason with everyone in the room, the daimyo in particular. "Someone like _me_ , who is willing to take the necessary risks for the sake of the village, is much more suitable to be the Hokage!"

"My apologies, Danzo-sama." Shikaku finally spoke up, crossing his arms and straightening his posture for more respectful appearance. "You are correct, our village has been heavily weakened with the loss of the Uchiha four years ago along with the deaths of many valuable Konoha ninja in the recent invasion. Without a Hokage, there isn't a person to keep things in control. We know this. We also know that in the state our village is in, the last thing we need is your kind of harsh rule. We need someone who will nurture the young souls of the next generation and make them into Shinobi who are forces to be reckoned with."

He had spoken with an even voice, not showing any sort of disdain in his tone.

"I agree with Shikaku-san." The man who spoke up against Danzo said with a nod. "I suggest the next Hokage should be one who has been taught the ideals and goodwills of the Sandaime."

"What?!" Danzo widened his eye. "But it is his so-called good will that got our village into this weak and fragile state!"

"Then the decision is easy, no?" Homura interjected, ignoring Danzo's rebuttals as he had already thought of the perfect candidate to become Hokage. "If we are looking from one who has inherited Hiruzen's teachings, then a member of the Legendary Sannin shall be a suitable choice."

"You can't be serious…" Danzo murmured with a scowl.

"Tsunade left the village a long time ago and hasn't been in contact since. Orochimaru is clearly out of the question. That leaves only one choice then." Koharu deduced, looking straight into the eyes of the man in front of her.

"Jiraiya-sama." Shikaku finished the train of thought with a satisfied smile, turning to the daimyo who had taken the entire conversation into consideration.

"Oh? The Gama-sennin (Toad Sage) who also mentored Konoha's Yellow Flash. The same Yellow Flash who became the Yondaime _and_ protected Konoha from the Kyuubi? Hmm…" The fire daimyo flapped his fan twice as he looked up at the ceiling, pondering his decision. He smiled as he reached a decision. "Indeed. Jiraiya-san will indeed make a fine candidate for Hokage."

Danzo looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He couldn't. He had lost once again his chance to become Hokage and as a result change the village to what it should be in his own vision. With a glare towards Shikaku, he silenced himself with a scoff.

Shikaku ignored the death gaze Danzo had sent his way and listened as Homura spoke up. "The relationship between Konohagakure and Sunagakure. Earlier today we have received a message from Sunagakure stating about how they wishes to realign themselves with us." As he spoke, Homura reached into his grabs and pulled out an envelope. He opened the flap and revealed a single piece of paper.

After neatly placing the open envelope in front of him on the table, Homura stood up and held the parchment in both hands. He skimmed over the paper, clearing his throat as he proceeded to read the content.

To sum it up, the letter went into detail about the reasons for Suna betraying Konoha. They were in great danger due to dwindling resources, so they needed to form an alliance with Oto in order to stay alive and to gain more resources. However, after the invasion, a search was commenced when the Suna Shinobi noticed the absence of their Fourth Kazekage. Unfortunately, the letter revealed that the man had indeed died and by the hands of Orochimaru no less.

For the reason that Orochimaru has done both villages wrong and for the sake of eliminating Otogakure, Suna was proposing to rebuild its alliance with Konoha...for good this time.

And finally, the message depicted Suna desiring a joint mission with Konoha where they sent a couple of teams as they feared that Orochimaru would come again to do something bad. He had done both villages wrong so Suna proposed working together to potentially take him out.

Homura looked as soon as he finished reading, awaiting the thoughts of the others in the room.

"We cannot allow Sunagakure to get the best of us again!" Danzo yelled with conviction. "How can we trust them now? Hiruzen was foolish enough to form an alliance with them in the first place and look how that ended up! Most of our men are _dead_! Surely they want to trick us again later down the line to fully eliminate us. Now is the time for _us_ to use an opportunity given to us in order to surprise Suna."

"Just one minute." Shikaku jumped in once again, cutting off Danzo before he could say anything else, much to the annoyance of the Root leader. "Once again, I apologize for my rudeness, Danzo-sama."

"It matters not, continue. Remember to watch your tongue next time, _commander_."

Shikaku nodded his head, ignoring the spite he sensed as he remembered Danzo's status above him. He looked around the table to the other occupants. Taking a quick breath, he spoke what was on his mind.

"Perhaps I should have mentioned this earlier, but now is a better time than any. I have received some intel from Ibiki Morino."

Koharu's ears perked up as she turned to the scarred Nara. "Ibiki? Ah, the dark one that is the head of the Torture and Interrogation Force. He does his job for the village very well, I must admit myself."

Shikaku turned his gaze to the daimyo. "Ibiki interrogated a bandit brought in by Kurenai Yuhi and her batch of Genin. According to her, multiple bandits on their mission were suspiciously acting and moving like real ninja. Anyways, Ibiki managed to extract some information from the captured 'bandit', and he managed to find out that this bandit was secretly from Otogakure. From that, I can only assume that the bandits acting like Shinobi were with a Oto as well. As for the real bandits...well, I think they were just stealing the goods."

"From what I've heard, those bandits were stealing the Fourth Kazekage's Gold Dust. Is that correct?" Danzo asked.

"Yes." Shikaku affirmed with a grim look.

The man across from Shikaku raised his head to speak. "As we know, the Kazekage's Gold Dust was an integral part of Sunagakure's survival when the village was going through economic strains."

"So it is safe to assume that these bandits accompanied by Otogakure Shinobi snuck into Suna to steal their Gold Dust." Homura adjusted his glasses as he set his gaze on the fire daimyo next to him. "And due to Suna's weak position and security at the moment, they could not detect the intruders. I think that this wasn't the first time this was attempted. It was just the first time it had been noticed."

Silence reigned supreme throughout the room as it took over everyone, even Danzo and the daimyo. No sounds could be heard except for the quiet breathing of the occupants in the room.

The Anbu commander sitting next to Shikaku was so quiet that everyone forgot he actually existed. True to how those of the Anbu usually acted, he barely said anything, only stating something _he_ thought was of great importance.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Shikaku decided to speak up once again.

"Suna claims to only have attacked us because Oto approached them and for the fact that they were running low on resources. Who knows what could have happened if they declined Oto's offer. This is Orochimaru who is the leader, had he wanted to he could launched an attack to get Suna completely destroyed. Furthermore, I can assume that Oto was stealing resources from Suna to get them into a dire position where they would be forced to attack Konoha with them for survival."

"Sunagakure was being tricked by Orochimaru the entire time." The Anbu commander finally said something, raising his head, his voice sounding slightly muffled due to the mask he wore. "With all due respect, I believe that allying ourselves with Sunagakure is the best decision. We will improve relations and the chance of defeating Orochimaru."

Shikaku gave a smile of approval. At least _someone_ understood where he was getting at.

"Hmm…" The daimyo looked up to the ceiling once again, deep in thought.

Danzo anxiously gazed at the man, not liking where this was going at all. He didn't know why anyone was listening to him. It just didn't make any sense! His way of going about things seemed to be the most logical. They had already tried Hiruzen's way and that got them hanging on the edge, nearly about to fall off and die.

"Fighting against Sunagakure will only make things worse for us! We are already in a bad condition, cutting off ties with them permanently with most certainly bring us to certain doom." Shikaku reasoned with everyone in the room, attempting to eliminate all doubts they could have.

Danzo opened his mouth to speak, but Homura cut him off.

"Danzo, I believe that you should have little say in the outcome of this meeting." The old man said, giving his comrade a stern glare.

"Homura!" Danzo seethed, surprised and angry at the fact that Homura didn't have his back. Usually, the bi-spectacled man agreed with his views on how to run the village. Why was he going against him now?

"You have been absent for a good while now, not responding to Konoha's darkest hours. Now, when Hiruzen has died, you think that you have the right to stand up and take over as the village's so-called protector? I'm sorry, old friend, but you couldn't be more wrong if you thought like that."

Danzo once again found himself sending death glares. This time, they were sent towards Homura. After a few moments of raw, exposed anger, Danzo took a deep breath and composed himself, remembering that he was in the presence of the daimyo and his committee.

"Very well, then. Do whatever you wish. However, do not blame me if things do not go as you hope they do. Such naïveté will lead you into pitiful _deaths_. But, if your way is how it should be done, then no more words shall be spoken from me."

"That is good." The daimyo spoke, grabbing everyone's attention immediately. "That way, we won't have any complaints about this decision. I have decided that we will once again form an alliance with Sunagakure, albeit on _cautious_ terms. We will have to monitor them for a good while to make sure they are trustworthy, but for now we will accept their offer. After all, Orochimaru has been a pain in our sides for quite a while now." He turned his head to the left, facing the representatives of Konoha. "From here I will leave things in your hands. Konoha will take part in a mission with Sunagakure. Whoever you send is up to you."

The daimyo looked to the right to see his right-hand man and leader of his committee. The man sent his most trusted subordinate a look. He nodded in response, getting the message.

The member of the daimyo's committee stood up from his chair very formally, his clothes bearing no wrinkles whatsoever, unlike the clothing of the other three. While it was clear that all members present took their job seriously, it seemed this one did his job like it was his life, hence why _he_ was the daimyo's most trusted underling.

"With this, the meeting has been adjourned."

Shikaku exhaled, having held a deep breath for the past minute now.

Good, it was over.

Unfortunately, due to the invasion, there was a massive decrease in living Shinobi. Most living ninjas in Konoha were either helping rebuild or out on missions to support the village.

This joint mission would require a lot of people, but Shikaku felt like he had the best people available for the job…

* * *

 **The Next Day**

Naruto Uzumaki let out a long, strained yawn, his voice being muffled from the pillow covering his face. The soft cushion rustled as Naruto dragged his head, forcing his tired and groggy body to turn to the right so he could face the window.

A bad mistake.

Naruto winced, his face retreating to the darkness of his pillow due to the unforgiving rays of the sun.

 _Damn it…_

Another day comes by. Another day without Hiruzen Sarutobi watching over the village.

 _Damn it…_

When the Third Hokage was alive, he had _believed_ that the Hokage was the strongest. He had thought that he could never be defeated by anyone no matter what.

He was dead wrong. Orochimaru had unknowingly proved him wrong.

 _Damn it…_

He couldn't believe it! He wasn't wrong!

The Hokage was the strongest man in the village! He was invincible! _No_ one could stop him! He refused to believe that someone like Orochimaru had managed to slay the Sandaime.

 _NO!_

The only enemies the Hokage loses to are disease, old age, and Biju. Nothing else has a _chance_ against the great leaders. No one else...stood a chance.

He was wrong…

"DAMN IT!" Naruto shouted out loud, gripping his pillow tightly with his left hand, punching it as hard as he could with his right. He punched for about two full minutes before finally calming down.

Taking deep breaths, he looked out his window.

 _Old man…_

Naruto had wanted him to live. He had wanted him to live so he could see him become the Hokage, and as a result get acknowledgement from everyone in the village.

But now he was gone…

To say that Naruto was close to Hiruzen was an understatement. Other than Iruka, Naruto had found that he had the closest bond with the late Third Hokage. And for good reason…

Before he met Iruka...no, before Iruka came to acknowledge him, Hiruzen was the one who cared for him. Yes, he was busy with his duties as Hokage, but he tried to give Naruto the best life a boy like him could have…

He was like a grandfather to him...

Naruto smiled fondly as he recalled precious memories that he experienced with the wise man…

From the few times they ate and cooked fish together to the annual celebration of his birthday in Ichiraku Ramen with the old man and later Iruka who joined in as well.

Hell, Naruto had even kind of enjoyed those stupid lectures the Sarutobi gave to his Academy class once in a while.

All in all, he was _such_ a good man…

It just wasn't fair for such a good man to die. It just wasn't fair at all!

A soft rapping at the door to his room interrupted his lamenting. Immediately, thoughts of the Third Hokage being at the door rushed in, draining out all thoughts of the harsh reality.

Succumbing to these thoughts, Naruto jumped off his bed, still in his pajamas. He rushed through his small apartment, nearly tripping and falling on the way to the door.

With an excited and gleeful tug, the door shot right open. Naruto ran right towards the person with his arms stretched with a wide, happy grin.

"OLD MAN!"

"KYAH!"

The person on the other side let out a scream as both they stumbled backwards out of shock from the tight, strong hug.

The grabbed person seemed to be trying to speak, but they couldn't get out a word. It was either because of Naruto's constant gibberish or it was out of embarrassment from the hug.

"Naruto." A hard, serious voice said.

Naruto froze, immediately separating from the person he was entangled with. In front of him, he saw Hinata with a small blush on her face, which went away quicker than usual. On his left, he saw Sasuke with an exasperated expression on his face.

"S-Sasuke...H-Hinata…" Naruto stuttered with a startled tone, scratching the back of

his head out of embarrassment for mistaking the two of them for the Sandaime.

It was Sasuke who spoke.

"Kakashi wants us in the Academy. We need to go as soon as possible. And get changed, you idiot."

* * *

 **Later**

The walk to the Academy was a quiet one for Team 7. They didn't know _what_ to say to each other. Not that it was their faults that is. In their own way and for their own reason, they were all socially awkward.

Naruto because of the ostracization he received from the village and lack of parents.

Sasuke because of the death of his clan and his goal of killing Itachi.

And Hinata for previously low self-esteem and high confidence issues in general. The sheltered and cold life of her clan didn't help with her social skills either.

For them, the silence was pretty unsettling, even for Sasuke.

Surprisingly, right when they reached the Academy building, it was Hinata who decided to break the awkward silence, unable to stand it much longer.

"So…" She began quietly as they entered the structure. "What do you think this meeting is about?"

After a few moments of no response, Sasuke finally decided to say something.

"I don't know. Kakashi didn't tell me anything except for meeting up in the Academy classroom we used to be in."

"Maybe it's a new mission!" Naruto exclaimed with excitement riddling his eyes.

Sasuke gave him a weird look as they walked to the door of their former Academy classroom and slid it open. "The Sandaime is dead. Do you really think they would let us go on a mission _two_ days after his funeral?"

"Well look what we have here!" A voice speaking in a carefree manner said the moment the Genin of Team 7 entered the room.

"Oh! Kiba!" Naruto immediately identified the voice of the boy in front of them. "If you're here, then does that mean…" The whiskered Genin's Eyes darted all over the room, his eyes raised out of surprise when he saw many other people.

"Team 8, Team 10...oh, and even Neji-nii-san's team is here (without Lee of course)." Hinata murmured at the sight of the people looking in their direction out of interest.

"It looks like your team has picked up your habit of being late, Kakashi." The Jonin sensei of Team 10 Asuma Sarutobi walked up to the newly arrived Team 7 while lighting up a cigarette in his mouth with a lighter. He breathed out, causing smoke to puff out into Team 7's faces, causing all three of them to cough uncontrollably.

"God damn it!" Naruto cursed out loud through nasty coughs. "Oi! You better *cough* *cough* get that damn *cough* thing out of our *cough* faces!"

"Oh, sorry about that." Asuma said insouciantly. Taking a step back, he examined each of Kakashi's Genin. "Let's see…" He pointed to Naruto, "Idiot." He moved his finger to Hinata, "Wallflower." He directed his gaze to Sasuke, "Crazy and obsessed avenger."

Tic marks formed on Naruto and Sasuke's heads at the insult while Hinata noticeably hugged her arms.

"Call us those names again, bastard!" Naruto yelled with flames burning in his eyes.

He was silenced by Kurenai placing her hand on top of his head.

"Calm down, Naruto." She chided lightly before turning to Asuma with an annoyed expression on her face. "And seriously Asuma, stop being so rude! Also, I _thought_ you were going to stop smoking!"

"You already _know_ why I stopped smoking for five days."

"Ahh, a lover's quarrel! Such a fine part of youth!" Might Guy barked from the side with a joyful laugh. "Doesn't it remind you of _our_ relationship, Kakashi?"

Tenten, Naruto and Sakura all choked.

Kakashi, who just staring at the Genjutsu Mistress and the son of the Sandaime arguing, turned his head to Guy, a blank expression filling his eye.

"What was that?"

Guy's form immediately slumped at being ignored, a depressed expression crossing his eyes.

 _That's so weird...and wrong coming from a grown man…_ Sakura thought to herself as she spectated the interaction between the two men.

 _Typical Guy-sensei..._ Tenten thought with a long sigh.

Kakashi retracted his attention from guy, looking at all of the occupants in the room.

 _Good. Everyone seems to be here…_

"Alright! Let's get down to it shall we?" Asuma, who had just finished bickering with Kurenai called out, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"Hey...sensei!" The lazy voice of Shikamaru Nara came from one of the desks. "What is so important that you had to call _everyone_ here?" The Nara rose from the Deck, revealing a flak jacket on his upper body.

"SHIKAMARU! YOU BECAME A CHUNIN?!" Naruto shouted, dashing right up to the boy out of shock.

Shikamaru winced. No matter how strong he got, Naruto's yelling was just too much for his ears.

With a frown, he said, "You're too loud. Yes, you idiot, I became a Chunin."

"B-But how?!"

"How? It's a drag, but I apparently met the conditions to become one during my match against that troublesome woman from Suna."

"As I was saying," Asuma cut in with an irritated tone. "We have been given a request for a mission directly from the daimyo himself."

"All of us?" Kiba said with a surprised expression.

Kurenai nodded her head towards her student. "Correct. Us Jonin don't know the full details yet. However, fortunately for us, Konoha's Jonin Commander is coming down here to fill us in the info."

Shikamaru's ears perked up as he looked towards the door out of interest suddenly.

"Fifteen people just for one mission?" Ino questioned. "What kind of mission are we doing that would require this many people?"

"Actually…" Kakashi chimed in to give his own information. "There will be more people. Apparently, this mission is a joint team-up with Sunagakure."

Silence.

Until…

"Suna betrayed us! Why in the hell would the daimyo approve of a mission like this?!" Kiba questioned with frustrated features on his face. He received a bark from Akamaru voicing his agreement.

"I will explain that for you right now, brat." A voice said from the entrance.

Everyone turned to see a scarred, taller version of Shikamaru standing in the doorway.

…

"EH?!" Voiced nearly every Genin in the room with the exception of Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino, Neji, and the rest of Team 10.

"What? Is it that surprising? What a drag!" Shikaku muttered with an annoyed frown.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled out all of a sudden. "You never told me your old man was the Jonin Commander!"

"That's because I didn't _want_ to tell you...it's too much of a drag." The newly appointed Chunin responded, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Enough bickering!" Shikaku commanded, immediately causing a deep silence to fill the entire room. "Let's get to it, shall we? I assume you all remember the proctor of the first round of the Chunin Exams, his name was Ibiki Morino."

Naruto gulped at the memory. He never told anybody, but he actually had a nightmare about the man's scars the night before they went into the Forest of Death. They didn't bother him now, but they were still _really_ freaky.

"Anyway, Ibiki interrogated a suspicious bandit who were seen acting like a Shinobi…"

Kiba and Sakura paled while Akamaru whimpered at the reminder of their mission. Shino made no subtle movements but his eyebrow was twitching under his glasses.

"And he found out that they belonged to Otogakure. Obviously, since Oto was a new Shinobi village at the time, we didn't think much of it until Ninja from that village entered the exams. Moving on, we have received a letter from Suna stating that Otogakure—Orochimaru specifically—had killed their Kazekage. Seeing that we were both deceived by Otogakure, Sunagakure is proposing to rebuild our alliance so we can take them down."

"So they proposed a mission to rebuild our bond _and_ take a step into taking care of Orochimaru at the same time. Am I wrong to assume that?" Shino asked politely, making Kiba squeal quietly out of fear from his sudden outburst.

Shikaku cupped his chin in his hand. "I'm not 100% sure. This could just be a ploy to lure us in. So obviously, we are to proceed with caution in this mission. Suna will be sending some of their own Shinobi, some of whom took part in the Chunin Exams."

"Gaara!" Naruto blurted out, a small grin nearly appearing on his face.

He was glad that there was a possibility of Suna and Konoha getting along again. He _really_ didn't want to be forced to fight Gaara because they were on different sides. He noticed that a small change spark in Gaara after he defeated him. It was small, but Naruto was sure that it gradually made him into a better person.

"We are targeting Orochimaru!" Shikaku informed everyone in the room. "Thanks to the efforts of Hokage-sama, he has been heavily weakened! We will be essentially be engaging in a small-scale war with Otogakure. Hesitation is _not_ an option on a mission like this! So, if any of you would like to back out now, then leave the room."

The father of Shikamaru closed his eyes, waiting to hear the sounds of multiple footsteps dashing for the door. To his surprise, he didn't hear any. He opened his eyes to see that no one in the room had budged a single inch.

He couldn't help but smile. _This new generation...they can be quite a force to be reckoned with if given the right training and discipline._

"Alright. Seeing that we have no cowards here! I will give you the final bit of the info I have right now. We will keep in touch with Suna on the whereabouts of Otogakure. It seems they have settlements north of Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire) and even in Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind) south of Suna. The mission will take place in Kaze no Kuni, which is almost completely desert. Oto's settlement is presumably near the hottest areas of the desert for environmental advantage. For this reason, I would advise wearing appropriate clothing for a hot setting while bringing water and other things to supply yourselves."

Shikaku looked up, setting his sights on everyone in the room. He saw the determined looks on each of the Genin's faces. This recent invasion taught them what it truly meant to be a Shinobi and what doing what they did stood for. They were now willing to pay the price for their occupation if need be.

He turned to each of the Jonin senseis, who gave him a nod.

"Do not fret, your Jonin senseis will accompany you on this mission. Us Shinobi are insane, not stupid. Your mission will occur two days from now. That is all for this meeting! Good luck, and welcome to the fight!"

* * *

 **Meanwhile-In an Unknown Area**

Nine silhouettes.

All of them having different unique traits and features to them.

Whether it'd be a big lumbering sword, a big fat body with a metallic tail hidden underneath, or even a plant-like appearance.

The one thing all these silhouettes had in common however…

The black cloaks with red clouds that they wore.

"Zetsu. Report." One of the silhouettes commanded with utmost authority.

The plant-like silhouette now known as Zetsu sighed before beginning to speak. "I have recently found out that former member Orochimaru of the Sannin has formed his own little village in the form of Otogakure. And only a couple of days ago, he launched an attack on Konoha. He apparently murdered the Sandaime there."

The member with a large blade strapped to his back chuckled. "Look at that Itachi-san, your old village was attacked and its leader killed. Do you feel the least bit sorry for your former home?"

The silhouette in question stood next to the one with the big blade. He remained silent for quite a while, as if he was hesitant to answer. Eventually, he merely raised his head, revealing the red eyes of a three-tomoe Sharingan.

"No."

"Damn it! Why do you have to make everything so fucking dramatic, red-eyed bastard!" Another member wielding a three-blades scythe cursed out loud.

"Sasori." The leader said emotionlessly yet confidently, "Any information regarding the whereabouts of Orochimaru."

The member with the metallic tail turned his head towards the leader. "Kabuto didn't say much of anything. All he told me was that there was a settlement in Kaze no Kuni."

"Very well, then." The leader opened his closed eyes, revealing purple eyes with a ripple pattern. "Itachi. Kisame." The member with the Sharingan and the member with the big blade replied by turning their heads. "You two are tasked with going to Kaze no Kuni. If you find Orochimaru, get rid of him immediately. Put your task of finding the Kyuubi on hold. If you find the Ichibi (One-Tails), then immobilize him and bring him to us. Our hunt for the other Jinchuuriki will come later. After all, we still need to verify all of their locations. We don't need a repeat of what happened with Kakuzu's failed attempt of capturing the Rokubi (Six-Tails)."

"Understood." Itachi replied tonelessly, ignoring the boastful laughter coming from one of the silhouettes with a long ponytail as they mocked another member wearing a mask who threatened to kill him if he didn't shut up.

And with that, one by one, each of the silhouettes disappeared.

In an unknown location, Kisame and Itachi rose to their feet, their goal in mind.

Find Orochimaru...and kill him.

* * *

 **Finally finished!**

 **So, I decided to introduce Danzo early in this fic. I know he wasn't created at the time, but I didn't like how he appeared out of nowhere after the time skip.**

 **And yes, I know that I delayed the timeline by a couple of days. Roll with it!**

 **Oh yeah, that bit with Kakuzu failing to capture the Six-Tails will be explained later down the road. It is something I decided to add in myself despite it not ever happening in canon or even filler.**

 **I'm kind of nervous actually writing this new arc, so it might take a while for the next chapter to get. Plus, I'm gonna be heading to my home in a couple of days so traveling will drain me quite a bit. Hope you guys understand!**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	22. Travel

Hinata looked down at the bag of clothes she had in her hand.

She really didn't want to, but Ino and Sakura _insisted_ that they go shopping with her to get a new set of clothes. Although the latter didn't say anything, the Yamanaka had said something along the lines of 'you'll be sweating like a bitch if you wear that baggy jacket to the desert, we need to get you a chance of clothes'.

She frowned at the memory. While she did have more confidence overall in both her tone of speaking and in her role as a Shinobi, she still suffered greatly when it came to social skills. So, to be frank, talking with Ino and Sakura in a normal setting was pretty weird.

Did she hate it? Absolutely not. If anything, Hinata liked it a lot. It was an experience she never had before in the slightest. When she was younger, she never really got to socialize with others that often due to her shy personality and the constant protection given to her because of her former status as heiress.

Perhaps Ino and Sakura noticed her lack of a social life and just wanted to help her loosen up a little bit. She never really interacted with them, so she was really surprised when they suddenly approached her all friendly, especially considering that she kind of stole their spot on Team 7 to potentially be with Sasuke.

Maybe they just wanted to be friends with her.

It probably wasn't the case, but Hinata kind of felt a little grateful…

Not for the clothes, though. Regardless, she didn't want to betray the feelings of her friends, so she would wear it on the day of the mission anyway. Plus, this getup seemed to be better for her in the long run. As much as she hated to admit it, the baggy jacket she wore sometimes got in the way.

Plus, though her hair wasn't long and therefore not something to be grabbed easily in a fight, the hood on her jacket could still be taken advantage of. For example, Orochimaru could have killed her had he wanted to in the Forest of Death just because she had her restrained by grabbing her hood.

Orochimaru…

Hinata didn't how it would work...the joint mission with Suna. Thanks to them, the relationship between Konoha and Suna had been severely damaged. Working together with them would be quite awkward and it could lead to some conflict later down the road.

Plus, Orochimaru was just _so_ strong…

Sure, Kakashi and the other sensei would be there but…

Would it really be enough?

Hinata shivered, running a hand down her cheek, where the rogue ninja had licked her previously with his long tongue.

Hinata hadn't been one to usually care if she was humiliated or not. She knew that she was a laughing stock, but whether or not she was humiliated didn't matter in the end as long as she got the job done. She'd been humiliated so many times already that it just didn't matter.

But recently, it had started to _really_ bother her again, being rendered helpless by Orochimaru within the span of ten seconds of battling him one on one. Sure, she landed a blow on him but it didn't amount to anything and the man could have easily killed her before then.

And then there was the beating she received from the Sound ninja, which easily beat out the beatings Neji would give her in training sessions.

She didn't know how it happened, but Hinata had gotten so lost in thought that she had almost walked right into the door of the Hyuga compound.

The sight of the Hyuga compound reminded her of Neji. After the meeting, he had insisted on walking her back home, but obviously Sakura and Ino came along.

Neji wanted to come along (probably because he wanted to make up for almost killing her by giving her protection at all costs) but in the end Hinata declined and said she didn't want to waste his time.

She could faintly remember the look he had on his face. It was so...shocked. Not shocked in a bad way. Looking back it was a very humorous face that made Hinata giggle as she looked back on the memory.

She entered the large compound, immediately making a walk for her room. It was still daytime. The shopping trip with Ino and Sakura had only lasted for one to two hours.

Walking through the corridor toward her usual training spot which was near her room, Hinata could hear traces of grunting followed by the sounds of hands clapping against each other.

"Again!" Came the authoritative voice of Hinata's father. The man may have started to show compassion for his nephew and his daughters, but it didn't mean that he stopped being strict.

In fact, recently he's been more strict than usual.

As Hinata walked across the rectangular training ground, she stopped to see Hiashi trading blows with a heavily focused and fatigued Neji.

After a few more moments of Neji dishing out blows as fast as he could with Hiashi easily blocking them, the leader of the Hyuga finally spoke up.

"That is enough for now, Neji. Go ahead and get some rest."

"Yes. Thank you." Neji bowed respectfully as he walked towards Hinata. As he walked past her, he made sure to give her a respectful smile as he went to go get a drink of water and some much needed rest.

Hiashi wiped a small drop of sweat that formed on his brow as he breathed out, making a steady pace towards his eldest daughter.

"I have heard from Neji that you two along with some others will be going to Kaze no Kuni to take on Orochimaru with Sunagakure." He said with an even tone.

The sudden statement startled Hinata. "Y-Yes. T-That would be correct. The mission starts in two days. We will be gone for a while."

For the next minute, Hiashi's eyes held absolutely no emotion whatsoever. A void of silence filled the gap between the father and daughter. It was so quiet that Hinata was beginning to feel her face heating up from how awkward it was.

Soon, however, her straight face turned into one of slight shock as Hiashi's lips curled into a small yet genuine smile.

"Very well, then. Do your best, and make our clan proud."

For some reason, it took Hinata a little bit to actually comprehend what had just happened. She was fully expecting something like 'don't be a burden to your peers' or something like that from her father. After all, he was never one for light encouragement.

Apparently she wasn't used to praise from her father just yet. Their relationship was still heavily strained. It would always be strained, no matter what happened. There would be a small bit of animosity and insecurity between Hinata and her father for as long as they lived. The scars of their damaged relationship would be engraved in the clocks of time for eternity. And everyone knew scars couldn't be completely healed.

However, while scars couldn't be healed, they could still be treated and mended somewhat.

The same goes for scarred relationships, such as ones with Hiashi Hyuga in the mix.

Hinata returned Hiashi's smile with a wide, happy one of her own. "Thank you! I won't disappoint you, Father!"

Hiashi closed his eyes, the smile not fading from his face at all. "I know you won't…"

* * *

 **The Next Day-At Konoha's Gates**

Naruto's eyes widened upon setting his eyes on the long white-haired main standing at the gates along with the other teams.

Ok, this was weird.

"What are you doin' here, Ero-sennin?"

"It's _Gama_ -sennin, brat!" Jiraiya corrected with an irritated frown. One would think that Naruto would show the member of the Sannin some more respect. One, because of his title. And two, he would have been dead without Jiraiya being there to teach him the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu).

And yet here he was…

Before Naruto could reply, something that would lead into more banter between the two, Kakashi stepped in, explaining the reason for Jiraiya's presence for Naruto.

"Jiraiya-sama is coming with us to take down Orochimaru. As a member of the Legendary Sannin himself, he will be our best bet against him."

Jiraiya triumphantly smiled, closing his eyes and standing to full height as a way to show his superior strength and dominance over everyone in the area. And it worked too, as Jiraiya's tall and strong stature made him very intimidating if he chose to make himself look in such a way.

The Toad Sage then put a serious expression on his face. "Well? Is this everyone?" He gestured to the surrounding people.

"No." Kakashi shook his head. "We are still waiting on Sakura, Hinata, and Sasuke." In an act of perfect timing, said ninja arrived at that moment.

"Sorry I'm late." A polite, soft voice said. Sakura said the same yet with a stronger tone while Sasuke merely grunted.

Naruto turned to the last three arrivals, examining his teammates and the pink-haired kunoichi. All of them have seemed to have changed clothes, with Hinata and Sakura standing out in particular.

Sasuke's outfit wasn't anything Naruto hadn't seen before. In fact, Naruto was more used to seeing the Uchiha dressed like this in his blue shirt with white shorts, which was the exact same outfit he wore in Nami no Kuni and in the first parts of the Chunin Exams.

Sakura wasn't too drastic either. There were notable differences. The colors of her outfit were exactly the same as her old qipao. Her green biker shorts were replaced by black ones and the qipao that she usually wore was replaced by what basically her qipao except that it cut off to reveal her midriff (think her design in the Crescent Moon movie) and the bottom part served as a skirt of some sort.

Hinata's outfit was a drastic change compared to how it originally was. The cream-colored baggy jacket was replaced with a jacket of the same color with shorts sleeves. Her jacket, like Sakura, cut off to reveal her midriff. However, underneath her short-sleeved jacket, she wore a mesh armor shirt while on her lower body she wore dark blue shorts that were similar in appearance to Neji's own brown shorts.

Naruto turned from the new arrivals to the others who were already here.

The other two members of Team 8 didn't seem to have changed that much. The only difference with them was that Kiba wasn't having his hood over his head like he usually did, showing off his unkempt brown hair.

Team Guy didn't look different whatsoever, aside from the fact that Tenten had more scrolls on her now.

On Team 10, all Ino did was remove the arm warmers she usually wore. Choji remained the same, while Shikamaru was now wearing the Chunin vest he had received due to his promotion.

"Well then!" Guy called out with excitement. "Now that we all have youth pumping through our veins, let us head out to Sunagakure!" He turned to to the open gates, digging a foot into the ground as he looked towards Kakashi with an expectant look on his face.

"G-Guy-sensei…" Tenten mumbled, putting her face into her hands. He might be an exceptional Shinobi, but Guy was just so embarrassing to be around...All. The. Time.

"Come on, Kakashi! It is time for another one of our youthful matches!"

"I don't want to…" Kakashi sweatdropped, purposefully not keeping his eyes in Guy.

The lack of attention given to the taijutsu specialist annoyed him greatly.

"Come on!"

"No!"

"Just _one_ match!"

"Sunagakure is 3 days away!"

"It will be _much_ quicker if we go at top speed!"

"Guy! Now is not the time to be messing around!" Kurenai chided with a strict tone, having enough of Guy's antics like everyone else.

Let it be said that Guy wore the most depressed face in the entire village at that moment.

After a few moments of Guy's reluctant silence, albeit there was the anxious fidgeting of him wanting to make a loud outburst, Jiraiya spoke up, he was looking directly at the blond-haired Uzumaki of the group.

"Naruto. After this mission, I want you to come with me."

"Come with you? Where?" Naruto asked with a curious expression before his eyes lit up like a baby finding his favorite toy. "Wait! Please tell me you're gonna teach me some secret awesome Jutsu! The Kuchiyose no Jutsu is _so_ cool! I want to learn more!"

"Ehh...something like that. You'll find out more when the time comes." Jiraiya scratched the back of his head with a grin on his face.

"Come on! Not fair!" Naruto pouted. He turned away and closed his eyes. "Well, I guess if you still train me, then it will all be alright…"

Jiraiya chuckled, placing a hand on the Uzumaki's head, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Hey! Come on, Ero-sennin!" Naruto whined, forcing himself away from the old man's hand, his cheeks red from embarrassment. They _were_ being watched by fourteen other people after all.

Jiraya listened and accepted Naruto's wishes. He didn't try to rub his hair again. His face turned serious as he turned to the gate. While he did want to teach Naruto something new after the mission, there was another reason why Jiraiya wanted him to come along.

The reason was that he had a hunch that an old friend and teammate of his was laying low in Tanzaku Quarters. The town attracts many people due to gambling opportunities and... _women_. While Tsunade was not a womanizer like Jiraiya himself, she _loved_ gambling (even though she sucks at it), even before the deaths of her loved ones, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Tsunade was needed because she was a candidate for the next Hokage. The council had decided on Jiraiya himself to be the Hokage. However, once again, the Toad Sage turned down the hat. After his many failures, it was best that he was not left with the responsibilities of a Hokage.

So, the compromise was that Jiraiya find and persuade Tsunade to come back. If she took the hat, Jiraiya was off the hook. If she refused or if she didn't even return to the village, then Jiraiya would gladly say he'd be fucked.

That's why Naruto was coming along.

Tsunade had long since abandoned her belief in Konoha and the Will of Fire. Ever since she cut ties with the village, she has barely been heard from since. And judging by how long it's been, she didn't have any intention of coming back.

However, with Naruto, there is a chance that the boy's knuckle headedness and dream of becoming Hokage will reignite something inside of a Tsunade.

A fire…

"I still can't believe you're a Chunin, Shikamaru." Jiraiya tuned back in to see that the boy's attention was no longer on him. It was on the son of Shikaku Nara.

"As I said, it's a drag. Out of everyone in that tournament, I probably was the only one who didn't even want to _be_ there." The lazy Nara replied calmly.

Naruto turned his head away from his friend with a blank expression on his face. _Yep...I really don't understand how he made Chunin…_

While that was going on, Hinata found herself making her way over to Tenten and Neji, who were standing next to each other noticeably somewhat far from Guy.

"Hinata-sama." Neji acknowledged, looking her straight into her eyes with a mostly emotionless look. Fortunately, while his eyes held no emotion, that also meant they held no anger as well.

"Umm...I've been wondering...how is Lee-kun?" The former heiress asked with a hint of concern in her voice. She hadn't seen or heard from him since the invasion and she was starting to get worried about him. After all, his dreams _were_ completely wrecked and thrown away like trash by Gaara.

"I don't know…" Tenten said honestly with a sad look in her eyes, thinking about the crippled boy. "He's taking his injuries pretty hard. I mean...anyone would if it meant their dreams being crushed…"

"He will have to figure something else to aspire for then." Neji spoke up with a wide frown on his face. It was clear that he was feeling bad for his teammate's condition, unlike his former self who wouldn't have seemed bothered at all. "As much as he may hate to admit, his career as a Shinobi is over. With the injuries he has sustained, there is no way of completely healing."

"Oh? I see…" Hinata looked down at the ground, feeling more sorry for Lee with each passing second.

"Alright! Now that we're all here I say we head out right now!" The gruff yet enthusiastic voice of Jiraiya played through the ears of everyone waiting.

"If that is your desire, then we shall do so, Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi said with the small respectful bow of his head.

After a minute or two more of making sure everything was prepared, the group of eleven Genin, four Jonin, and one Sannin walked out of the village.

As the group made the long trek to Suna, Jiraiya and the other Jonin decided to lay out the plan of attack to the Genin and the now Chunin Shikamaru.

"We will be splitting up into groups." Asuma started. "This is so we can throw off the enemy by cutting ourselves into smaller numbers, attacking from multiple different points."

"I will be on my _own_." Jiraiya quickly added, staring back at Naruto sharply. This went without saying. Jiraiya was the strongest person in the group. He was far stronger than the others, with only the Jonin being somewhat of a challenge.

He took notice of the pout from Naruto that followed this statement. Obviously, this was to be expected as well. Surprisingly, the blond made no objection despite the obvious displeasure on his face.

"We will have three Shinobi from Sunagakure joining us when we get there, with more reinforcements following later." Kakashi stated. He watched as Naruto's head perked up. It was obvious who he was thinking about.

"Is it them?" The boy asked Kakashi with an expectant look on his face.

A few moments of silence went by. The only sound was everyone's feet hitting the ground as they ran. They _all_ knew who Naruto was referring to. Neji, Tenten, and Guy all noticeably stiffened, with a painful reminder of the fate of their treasured teammate.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto pressed on with a blank tone, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. It is Gaara and his siblings." The copy ninja finally responded.

Naruto looked down at the ground. He had hoped Gaara had changed for the better in some way. After their battle back at Konoha, the Uzumaki could see that his words to the Sand Jinchuuriki had changed something about him, even in the brief final seconds he had seen him before he was taken away by Temari and Kankuro.

Again, _hopefully_ that change was for the better. It was honestly very hard to tell with Gaara. The only emotions you could ever read on his face were bloodlust and disinterest.

"So how will the groups be split up?" Sakura cleared her throat, trying to get back to the topic at hand in an attempt to ease the discomfort that everyone in the group shared.

"We already have the teams. We'll run through them right now." Kurenai stated as she began to list down the members of each team. "Team 1 will consist of Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Tenten, myself, and a girl from Suna named Temari."

Shikamaru could be heard muttering 'how troublesome' under his breath moments after.

"Team 2 will hold two Jonin sensei. As a result, there may be a chance we will split up at some point." Kakashi said. "With Guy and I on Team 2 is Neji, Shino, Kiba, and finally the man from Suna named Kankuro."

Guy grinned, letting out a manly roar before muttering random things about youth and getting energized, much to the group's annoyance.

"Finally, Team 3." Asuma said. It was pretty clear who was on the team, but just to be sure he read down the members anyway. "Under my leadership will be Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata and Sunagakure's Gaara."

Naruto and Sasuke blinked out of surprise. A feeling of interest and anticipation filled their insides as they wondered what Gaara would be like now. Meanwhile, on the other hand, both Hinata and Sakura began to visibly shiver.

Neji glanced back at his younger cousin out of immediate concern. He already saw Lee's dreams get crushed; he did _not_ want under any circumstances to fail his duty and see Hinata end up in the same way. He turned to the four Jonin sensei leading the group as they ran. He opened his mouth to speak, but it eventually closed again when he didn't make a single sound.

Regardless of how they felt however, that was their teams. And everyone got the sign that nothing would be changed no matter what. Arguing against would just make the situation even worse.

At the very least Hinata was in safe hands with Naruto. Neji knew all too well that Naruto was a complete idiot. However, when push comes to shove, he held some respect for the boy and knew that he was strong enough to do the job in his absence

 _Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand)...is it wise to let a person like him roam freely?_ His mind immediately filled his head with doubts and fear.

"Do not worry, you four. I'll be there to make sure he doesn't hurt you, but I doubt he'll try anything." Asuma spoke up with a dull yet in an odd way an assuring tone. "If Sunagakure is telling the truth, then Gaara seems to have mellowed down since his fight with our very own Naruto Uzumaki."

Neji scowled. Ok, that still didn't help much when it came to easing his thoughts. He said _if_ Suna was telling the truth. He never said it was a 100% confirmation. So that means that there is still a chance for something bad to happen.

Already, Neji Hyuga's outlook on this mission was not good…

* * *

 **2 Days Later-At Night**

After days of running, the group decided to take a break and get some rest.

They had no breaks whatsoever during their traveling, and most if not all of the Genin were feeling pretty tired now. So, they were now setting up camp. Nearly everyone was helping out with some exceptions.

Hinata was one of them. And to be frank, she was glad she wasn't chosen for one of the jobs. As soon as her butt hit the ground, she did not want to get up. Her feet were very sore from all the running, as she had expected it to be for the other Genin.

Luckily, there was a pool of water about a two minute walk from the campsite that she walked over to in order to relax.

The feeling of her feet being moistened as she dipped them into the water was very soothing. It wasn't like the baths she would take at home or in the public springs, but it was still comfortable nonetheless.

"Hinata!" A feminine voice suddenly called.

Hinata turned to the source to see Sakura walking towards her with a frown adorning her features.

"S-Sakura-san…" Hinata mumbled the name of her fellow Genin, confused and worried by the girl's troubled look. "What's wrong?" She asked out of concern with a soft tone.

The pinkette moved to sit down next to her, removing her sandals from her feet beforehand so she could also dip her toes into the water. Once she did, she let out a long sigh of relief with the exclamation of how nice the water was. In a few moments however, the same troubled expression returned to her face.

She turned to face the Hyuga, opening her mouth to say something, but she couldn't just get the words out. She still felt awkward with Hinata, despite the fact that the girl did not actually do anything at all. It was more of what Sakura herself did.

While she did shop with the girl, that was more of Ino's idea because she said that the girl 'needed to get out of her shell' or something like that. Even then, she could easily read the discomfort that Hinata had at the time. Perhaps it was due to buying more revealing clothes to what she was used to or it was just that the girl was just socially awkward.

Sakura didn't think much of Hinata in the Academy, but after shopping with her she realized that she was quite a strange person. Perhaps that was just her way of being different, but even still she was very strange.

Which was one of the reasons why she found it weird interacting with Hinata. The other being her mistake of blindly and immaturely assuming that Hinata had the hots for Sasuke and that she used her status in the Hyuga clan to switch up the teams.

Regardless of what she thought of her before however, Sakura for some reason wanted to befriend Hinata. After all, outside of her teammates and Ino, she really didn't have many friends...or at least friends that she could somewhat relate to.

Hinata was maybe that person. Like Hinata, Sakura herself had major self-esteem issues due to the bullying inflicted upon her caused by her large forehead. And, from what she's seen, they both hated being a burden to others.

"Uhh...Sakura-san," Hinata spoke up, snapping Sakura out of her daze. She looked at her with a concerned look. For the past 30 seconds she had been just staring at her and it was starting to get very uncomfortable for her. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh, yes!" Sakura immediately turned her head to look down at the water, a small blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. "I was just wanting to ask you...how do you feel about being on the same team as that Gaara guy?" She directed her gaze back to the indigo-haired kunoichi and locked eyes with her before the former heiress looked away, deep in thought.

"I…" She started before pausing, unsure of what to say next.

"It's okay." Sakura said after a few moments. "You don't have to tell me." She already knew somewhat of how the girl felt. She just wanted to hear for herself so she could know that she was not alone.

"No, it's fine." Hinata said with an insistent nod. Perhaps letting out her fears to a fellow comrade would make her feel better. "To be honest...I am quite scared. Given the circumstances, I don't really trust the people from Sunagakure."

Sakura made a sound that voiced her agreement. "I think all of us feel that way." She looked down at her lap, straightening out the wrinkles on her lap lightly. An uncomfortable silence filled the air, something that greatly irritated Sakura. She stopped caressing her lap to glance at the lavender-eyed kunoichi before grinning mischievously. "Sooooo, _Hinata_ , are you excited to be on Naruto- _kun's_ team?"

Hinata's response was to immediately blush out of embarrassment. "S-Sakura-san!"

Sakura couldn't help herself. She broke out into a laughing fit. "I'm...hahaha...sorry! I have no right to make fun of you like that anyway..." She trailed off, leaving Hinata to immediately fill in the blanks. Sakura was obviously referring to her own love for Sasuke which has been left unreciprocated.

At that moment, it shocked Hinata just how many things she had in common with Sakura. They both aspired to become stronger for the sake of supporting their team and they were also crushing on a boy who was either unaware of their feelings or not wanting any part of it.

"I think you have a good chance of getting with Sasuke-kun." Hinata suddenly found herself saying.

"What?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, surprised that the words were coming out of Hinata's mouth.

"Out of everyone who had a crush on him back at the Academy, he seemed to tolerate _you_ the most." Hinata elaborated, giving Sakura a confident smile. "Not to mention, he also took notice of the fact that _you_ cut your hair; he seemed to pay no attention at all when Ino-san did it during the Chunin Exams. Sakura-san, if I were to be truly honest with myself, then...I'd say _you_ have the best chance of getting with Sasuke-kun out of everyone I know. I'd say...that as long as you stayed focused on the mission, he would have no qualms with working on the same team as you."

"...Wow. That's a lot to take in. I never really thought of it like that." Sakura said with genuine amazement. She _really_ didn't notice that Sasuke treated her better than the other girls. Sure, she was still a waste of time in his eyes but... _wow_. Sakura smiled at her companion. "You have a really good eye for details like these, Hinata."

"T-Thank you..." Hinata blushed from the praise, embarrassed that she had put herself on the spot like that, so much so that the stutter that she had thought she'd gotten ridden of returned.

"Y'know, Hinata." Sakura said out loud, brushing a hand through her pink hair. "I believe that you have a good chance of getting with Naruto."

The small blush on Hinata's face that had begun to disappear immediately brightened. Hinata mentally chastised herself for getting embarrassed so easily. She had managed to stand up to her own cousin Neji Hyuga and took part in the Chunin Exams and a C-ranked mission to Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) her she still somehow managed to almost always froze up whenever Naruto was involved.

 _You are so hopeless, Hinata..._ The female Hyuga thought to herself.

Suddenly, Hinata found her ears picking up the sound of a yawn which came from Sakura. This seemed to be the case as when Hinata turned to her fellow kunoichi she was stretching her arms out with her mouth wide open.

Sakura rubbed her eyes, rising to her feet as she did so. "I'm _so_ tired! I'm gonna go back to camp." She turned around and began to walk the short distance back to camp. "Bye, Hinata!"

"Hmm? Oh, yes! Good night to you, Sakura-san." Hinata replied politely as she saw the girl walk away. As soon as she was gone, the smile on her face turned into a frown as she looked down at the water near her feet.

Eventually, after sitting in that one place for five minutes, Hinata rose to her feet. She turned in the direction of the camp and began walking with only one thought running through her mind. As she walked back, she couldn't get the feeling that something was going to happen out of her head.

She didn't know when. Her gut just told her that at some point on the mission…

Something was going to go wrong.

* * *

 **The Next Day**

 _This is such a drag..._ Shikamaru thought to himself, laying his eyes on the new arrivals. They were in a settlement near Sunagakure where they had met up with Gaara and the others. Now that everyone was face to face, there seemed to be tension between Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, and Gaara. And if that wasn't enough, there was that Kankuro guy staring daggers at Shino, who returned the look with a fixed gaze.

The Nara looked at the female of the trio, meeting her gaze.

Shikamaru flexed his fingers, tightening his hands into a fist out of annoyance. _Damn it! Why am I so nervous?_

"Ehh? What's with the stupid look on your face, Nara?" Temari stated bluntly with a smirk on her face.

"Be quiet! I don't need to hear that coming from a troublesome woman like you." Shikamaru muttered, turning away from the girl, directing his gaze to the sky. His eyebrows furrowed out of frustration after coming to a realization.

 _No clouds...what a drag…_

After silently expressing his distaste at the lack of clouds in the sky, Shikamaru turned his attention to something _much_ more interesting. And that something was Temari's youngest brother, the former psychopath named Gaara.

To Shikamaru's surprise, the auburn-haired boy was looking straight at the Uzumaki, who was staring back at him with wide and concentrated eyes that held anticipation all the same.

"Naruto...Uzumaki." Gaara droned, his voice sounding no different than from the Chunin Exams. However, the tone was slightly different. It no longer had the sound of a man out for blood. It was more calm and collected. In fact, everything about Gaara seemed to be more mellowed down.

"Gaara…" The blond replied with an even tone, trying not to show any signs of nervousness out of the fear that it would be manipulated. Although this attempt was betrayed by the drop of sweat that nearly rolled into the confines of his eyes "How...How are you?"

"I...am fine." Gaara said, not blinking for the entire minute that he had been staring at Naruto. Shikamaru would have been lying if he had said that the boy's staring was very unsettling. He could tell from small body movements that Naruto was _also_ becoming slightly uncomfortable.

Sweat? Check. Twitching? Check. Occasional glances towards Jiraiya, Kakashi, and the other three Jonin? Check.

Suddenly, Naruto's face changed. It was like any sign of discomfort that anyone saw on his face had just disappeared like it was never there in the first place.

The whiskered boy flashed Gaara a grin. "I think we'll make a great team!"

Everyone (Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke especially) looked at Naruto as if he was out of his mind. Even the Jonin were caught off guard by this somewhat casual and friendly statement. They all knew that Naruto typically didn't get along with an asshole. Gaara...was _much_ worse than an asshole…

He was a psychotic maniac. Or at least...he _used to be_ a psychotic maniac.

The one who was shocked most of all was Gaara, as for a brief moment he let surprise show in his eyes. He quickly washed this away as the mask of minor interest that he usually wore returned to his face.

"Ahem." Kurenai cleared her throat, gaining everybody's attention. "Now that we are all hear, I'd say it's time for us to move out."

Jiraiya gave a nod of agreement. "You all have your groups and a mission to do. How about everyone just do us a favor and try not to screw it up for the others."

"Shikamaru." Kurenai said, turning to face said boy. "This is your first mission as a Chunin. While you are expected to fulfill your responsibilities as a Chunin, I want you to take note of everything on this mission to use for your own gain. If anything were to happen to me, you'll be in charge of the group."

"What?!" Shikamaru perked up, his eyebrows raising as he gave the Genjutsu Mistress a dumbfounded look.

Seeing the urge to complain on Shikamaru's face, Kurenai closed her eyes and said, "That is the price of being a Chunin. You are given new responsibilities that exceed those of a Genin and you are expected to carry out those responsibilities obediently."

Shikamaru sighed, scratching the back of his head. There was only one thing running through his head at that moment.

 _What a drag…_

* * *

 **Wow...it's been two months since I've last updated this story. Damn, does time fly!**

 **Sorry for the lack of updates, I just had to plan out some stuff for this little arc thing I'm doing. The next chapter might be a little short, I don't know though.**

 **Anyways, there's really not much I can say here, so...yeah.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	23. Ready

Kabuto Yakushi was in quite the situation at the moment.

Correction, a _clone_ of Kabuto Yakushi was in quite the situation. The original Kabuto wasn't anywhere near one of the hideouts in Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind). In fact, they were actually closer to Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire), which housed Konoha.

They were actually in Oto no Kuni (Land of Sound), which housed Otogakure. He already knew that if Suna and Konoha were to team up, they would attack the hideouts in Kaze no Kuni first. Attacking Oto no Kuni was too risky. They knew very little very little about the land over there and it was too much of a disadvantage.

Obviously, due to Suna's weak state and the damage done to Konoha, Otogakure could probably beat both of them, albeit with quite some difficulty. However, in a remote hideout in Suna with a very limited amount of reinforcements…

Things were on more even grounds. There probably aren't that many ninja coming here, as other Shinobi need to be sent out on missions to make Konoha and Suna look strong to neighboring countries.

It all worked out perfectly, expect Orochimaru had lost the use of his arms. Fortunately, once he switches bodies, he should be able to at least move his limbs again. However, he will still be unable to use Jutsu that require hand signs.

Currently, the real Kabuto was looking into a counter against the Shinji Fuujin (Reaper Death Seal), postponing the hunt for Sasuke until Orochimaru retrieved the use of his hands. Obviously, the Shiki Fuujin was a powerful Jutsu created by the Uzumaki clan. That meant there was some way to somehow reverse the effects of the Jutsu. However, finding that way was the hard part for Kabuto.

And it's not like he could just go to Uzushiogakure and ask for the way to reverse the Shiki Fuujin. After all, the village was attacked and destroyed a long time ago. Members of the Uzumaki clan were now either dead or scattered to places where people wouldn't even recognize where they had come from, their heritage forever forgotten.

And at the moment they had assumed that Uzushiokagure had already been ransacked by the nations that destroyed it. No matter what though, they needed more time. And Orochimaru had to be kept safe.

That was the purpose of the Kabuto Bunshin. He had come to this hideout in order to wage an attack against the approaching Shinobi from Suna and Konoha in order to buy more time. Obviously, he couldn't do it alone. So, he had enlisted the help of many people.

The Sound Trio, Guren, and finally some very special help in the form of the Sound Four. They could have had more people helping out in the form of prisoners. However, there were no prisoners whatsoever in the hideout. They were either dead or transferred to another one of Orocnimaru's hideouts.

However, the amount of people he had helping him was enough. Guren was quite the force to be reckoned with. The same could be said about the Sound Four. The three Sound Genin also have great potential. Said potential was greatly increased with their advancement into the second stage of the Curse Mark thanks to the pills given to them by the Sound Four.

Speaking of the Sound Trio, Kabuto entered a room where the three of them were waiting for him with satisfied expressions on their faces. It was the face a baby would wear when it would get a new toy. Well, that's how Kabuto would describe at least from his point of view.

"How are you three feeling?" Kabuto asked with a malicious smirk. They would turn out to be very useful to Orochimaru indeed. "Powerful? I bet you feel like you could take on the entire world."

"You bet your bi-spectacled ass I do!" Zaku exclaimed with a cocky smirk, glancing down at his hands, flexing his fingers. He could truly feel the new and awesome power surging through his veins. It was...captivating. He just wanted to have more of it.

"Easy, Zaku." Dosu stated calmly, trying to keep himself under control. Even _he_ had to admit, this power boost was pretty big. "In terms of Kabuto-san and Orochimaru-sama, we are still inferior."

Zaku merely scoffed, sending his male teammate an annoyed glare for ruining his happy mood.

To Zaku, Dosu was that one guy who always wanted to ruin all the fun, whether it'd be by saying something to dampen the mood or to display dominance over others. It was one of the things he hated his guts for! Hell, if they weren't on the same team, both of them knew that they would have ended up trying to kill each other at some point.

Kabuto watched over the spectacle with an amused gaze. Then, he directed his attention over to Kin, who was sharpening her senbon with a face that spoke a desire for retribution.

"And you, Kin-chan? How do _you_ feel about this great gift?" The white-haired man asked with faked eyes of interest.

He obviously didn't care for the three. In fact, the only one he really cared about was Orochimaru. To be honest, Kabuto was quite surprised that his master still saw some worth in these three. The interactions between these three Genin make it look like they're about to slit each other's throats at every turn.

Brushing a thick bundle of her black hair out of her face with her hand, Kin locked eyes with Kabuto. Even when very detached and uninterested, Kabuto could see the excitement bubbling up inside of the young girl. First was a wave of recollection that passed through her black irides followed by the familiarity of hate and anger caused by humiliation. He didn't know nor care who it was exactly that made Kin this pissed off at them. All Kabuto knew was that it was two Konoha Genin who were most likely on their way here.

It was the perfect time for retribution in Kin's eyes. Again, Kabuto wasn't interested in any of their affairs or plights. However, there would certainly be a problem if it affected the mission that was given to them by Orochimaru. For that reason, and that reason alone, was why a Kabuto clone was sent to watch over them and take part in the fight as well. After all, the prospect of revenge can corrupt anyone.

Many dead Shinobi were proof of that…

"I can't wait to kill those two bitches who humiliated me!" Kin growled, rising to her feet and chucking a single senbon at a wall. The sharp weapon was engraved into the wall halfway, with the other portion sticking out for all to see.

"Patience, Kin-chan." Kabuto chided with an amused tone. "You'll get what you want in due time. Just be patient until then."

He received a scoff from the girl in return, followed by her exiting the room, probably to vent on some practice dummy. Or perhaps to practice methods to torture the two who apparently humiliated her in a fight.

He removed his gaze from the exiting Kin. His eyes drifted over to the attentive Dosu, who was ready for any orders that may be given to him. Kabuto offered a smile his way, one that caught the attention of the bandaged man. A drop of sweat seemed to be moistening the bandages covering his face.

 _How interesting..._ Kabuto thought to himself, seeing that Dosu was nervous. Ever since the Sound Trio got the second stage of the Curse Mark, the one-eyed man seemed to be very on edge. Usually, the man had made sure to hide this new trait of his, but once in a while he would slip up.

"Dosu, please go look for Guren and the Sound Four." Kabuto commanded without a second thought. "I think it is about time we all got ready for the coming fight."

Dosu nodded, slowly walking past Kabuto with a straightened posture in an attempt to seem like his normal self. However, this attempt failed, and Orochimaru's right hand man could see through this facade quite easily.

 _The time for battle is coming._ Kabuto reminded himself internally. _Hopefully, this will buy more time to find out about a cure for Orochimaru-sama's arms as well as my research…if worst comes to worst, then we'll have to give Orochimaru-sama those eyes..._

Kabuto spun on his heel and proceeded to exit the room, the sound of his footsteps echoing throughout the corridor.

* * *

"Alright, young ones!" Jiraiya yelled out with his gruff voice. "It is time to move out!"

Sakura gave Jiraiya a side glance with a dumbfounded expression on her face. _Does he really have to speak to us as if we're little kids…_

Regardless, she walked over to her given teammate. Upon arrival, she and Hinata exchanged glances, giving each other a smile. Albeit Sakura's smile was more to reassure her fellow kunoichi, who seemed to be nervous now that they were actually about to invade Orochimaru's lair.

She moved her view over to Naruto and Sasuke, the latter crossing his arms and slumping his head down with his eyes closed while the former sent her a wide grin. She could easily decipher the message behind that face.

'Great to be working with you, Sakura-chan!'

"Let's give it our best shot you guys!" Sakura made a fist with her right hand and grabbing the wrist with her left hand.

Meanwhile, while this exchange occurred, Jiraiya walked past Kakashi, putting a firm grip on his arm. The masked ninja immediately gave the Gama-sennin his full attention.

"What is it that troubles you, Jiraiya-sama?" Kakashi asked with a concerned tone, seeing the serious mask that Jiraiya had put on his face. The 50-year old man was usually quite jovial and outgoing, so when he was serious, his news was almost always very important.

And what the sage told him only confirmed this belief.

"Do you remember that organization I told you about?" Jiraiya questioned the ninja with a quiet tone so the others would not be able to listen in.

"Akatsuki? The group of S-ranked criminals? Yes, I do remember such a thing like that. Why? Did something happen?" Kakashi said with an alarmed tone.

"Unfortunately, yes." Jiraiya admitted with a grim tone. "My source—whose identity will continue to remain unknown to you—claims that two members of Akatsuki are on their way here."

Kakashi grimaced upon hearing the news. That was not good at all. If Akatsuki was on their way here, then that meant only one thing.

"They're after Naruto." Kakashi stated with an astute voice.

Jiraiya shook his head. He spoke, his voice filled with uncertainty, "That's what I'm thinking as well. However, it wouldn't be bring to assume that they are after Gaara as well. Hell, they're mission might be killing Orochimaru."

"Killing Orochimaru?" Kakashi repeated, widening his exposed eye. "For what purpose? I understand that Orochimaru is a tyrannical maniac that trifles with the lives of those around him, but I see no reason why an organization built around capturing the nine Biju would concern themselves with someone like him. After all, Orochimaru hasn't announced any interests in capturing the Biju…"

"That is true…" Jiraiya mumbled, rubbing his chin as the information given to him by his source played in his mind for him to say out loud. "But, I never did tell you that Orochimaru and Akatsuki have some history."

"History?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Yes. My guess is that Akatsuki wants to kill Orochimaru because he could have some vital information due to him being a former member of the group,"

The news hit Kakashi like a water dragon from the Second Hokage. With a startled tone, he expressed his shock, "O-Orochimaru used to be part of Akatsuki?"

The sage regretfully nodded.

"So this is why you wanted to be alone." Kakashi realized.

"Yes. I will be looking for the two people from Akatsuki. Even if their business is with Orochimaru, we cannot let their presence go ignored." Jiraiya furrowed his eyebrows, looking towards the ground out of frustration. "For all we know, they could easily turn around and go after Naruto or even Gaara, considering he is a jinchuuriki as well."

"And why are the other three Jonin not being told about this?"

"Because I told them before we left the village. Think about it, if four Jonin and a Sannin just huddled up, that would make our little Genin very suspicious."

"I see. And what should I do if I run into Akatsuki?" Kakashi wondered out loud.

"As everyone is focusing on a single hideout, we won't be that far from each other. I'm sure if you threw a kunai tied to a paper bomb into the air I could see and hear the explosion." Jiraiya said.

As this conversation went on, Shino, Shikamaru, and even Sasuke stole glances at the group in an attempt to listen in. Unfortunately, they were speaking very quietly, and everyone else was conversing with another. As a result they couldn't hear most of the conversation apart from a few inaudible words.

However, they could just barely hear some things that sounded very interesting.

Akatsuki…

Biju…

Capturing…

Naruto…

Jinchuuriki...

While they showed any signs of shock, they were frozen on the inside. What was Akatsuki? What did this Akatsuki have to do with Naruto and the Biju? And what the _FUCK_ was a jinchuuriki?

Unfortunately, now was not the time to be asking these kind of questions. Albeit, they really did want to press for answers, Sasuke especially as their talk seemed to relate to Naruto in some way. In the end however, no one said anything about Jiraiya and Kakashi's conversation.

After a minute or two, the groups finally went their own way. While the end goal was to defeat Orochimaru, the fact that the teams were filled with Genin were still a factor. As a result, the main purpose of these groups were to scout out the perimeter of Orochimaru's hideout, which essentially a large underground lair.

Reinforcements would of course be on the way from Sunagakure in order to help take down Orochimaru. However, seeing as that the village rose recently and that they had _just_ come out of an invasion in which many of their Shinobi died, there were most likely not many Shinobi on the enemy's side.

This made the time for attack perfect.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

"It seems we are close, Itachi-san." Kisame Hoshigaki said to his partner with his shark-like grin, lumbering Samehada on his shoulder.

Itachi Uchiha gave no response. This was usually how interactions went. Kisame was the talker while Itachi was the silent and reserved one of the two.

The rogue ninja from Konoha opened his closed eyes, his three tomoe Sharingan activated in both eyes. "I can feel something…" He spoke after a long moment of silence. "There are others not far from here."

"Oh? Perhaps they are after Orochimaru like us…" Kisame suggested with a light chuckle.

Itachi closed his eyes as the duo continued to trudge through the sands. "If that is the case, then it is mostly likely ninja from Konoha."

"From Konoha? Your old home, huh?" Kisame glanced to his partner to see if he could pick up any signs of nostalgia, regret, or any hesitance of the sort. He not only found no signs of such, but like last time, he said something that once again showed that he did not care for his village.

"Konoha is our enemy. Former home or not, mutual enemy or not." Itachi said with an emotionless tone. "I have cut my ties with that place five years ago and I have no intention of going back. Our only job is taking down Orochimaru, I would like to avoid any hassle with Konoha ninja."

"And if we have no choice but to fight?"

"Then we fight." Itachi stated with obstinate eyes. "It is them or us. It is as simple as that."

Kisame blinked. "Wow, that's pretty cold...even for my standards." Despite cutting his ties with Kiri, Kisame wouldn't act _that_ cold and pretend like he never lived there at one point. "Very well then, if that is how it's going to be…" Kisame formed a hand sign. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Jutsu)!"

Molding his chakra to create water, Kisame shaped his newly created substance into a body with exactly the same height and physique that he himself had. The water solidified, turning into an exact clone of Kisame.

"Let's get going. Shall we, Itachi-san?"

"We're splitting up." Was all that the Uchiha said, confusing the former ninja from Kiri.

"Why are we splitting up?" He asked.

"It will be easier to find Orochimaru that way. Let us make quick work of this. Orochimaru will die today..."

* * *

 **Wow, has it been a while. All I can say is that I'll try to be faster next time. I just wanted to have you guys know I haven't dropped this fic.**

 **Hopefully, we'll be able to get to some fights, I make no promises though.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this short chapter.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


	24. Encounters

"Alright! I'm ready for the challenge!" Naruto Uzumaki yelled at the top of his lungs with both an excited and confident expression on his face. Not much time had passed since he had fought Gaara in the invasion against Konoha, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to show off his awesome moves. "Come on! Bring Orochimaru's goons right to me and I'll beat ever living crap out of 'em, ya know!"

"Calm down, Naruto." Sakura chided with an annoyed tone, her thoughts unknowingly aligning with Sasuke's. "Keep yelling like this and you're going to screw this whole thing up!"

Their platoon leader, Asuma Sarutobi, scratched the back of his head with an exasperated look on his face. "She is right you know, Naruto. Yell like that when we're in the thick of it and you're gonna give us away…"

After giving Asuma a silly face by childishly sticking his toughest out, he eventually conceded and decided to listen, remembering the situation they were in.

Internally, the son of the Sandaime Hokage let out a sigh of relief. _Good. I was wondering when he would stop running his mouth. He's been talking nonstop for the past two minutes. How does Kakashi deal with this kid?_ His eyes held a bored light in them as he continued to gaze upon the orphaned boy. They suddenly flickered with interest when he realized the similarities between Naruto and a certain Uchiha that was on Kakashi's squad when they were younger.

The kid really was like Obito. While Asuma wasn't particularly close with the deceased Uchiha, he had known enough about him to know his goals and personality. And frankly, they quite frighteningly mirrored Naruto's. One would look at the blond and think that he was Obito's reincarnation or something.

 _I wonder if Kakashi has noticed the similarities..._ Asuma closed his eyes at the thought. He knew how hard Obito's death hit Kakashi. Perhaps the Hatake had already seen the similarities, and it was affecting how he treated him. _Oh well, no use worrying about it now. We've got work to do._

"Alright. Listen up, Team 3!" He said suddenly with a tone of authority, catching the attention of the five Genin he was watching over. "Remember, this mission is no child's play. This isn't another one of your standard D-Ranked missions. Your generation is very special in the eyes of many. Not many Genin get to take a high-profile mission like this. None of you can handle a mission of this scale on your own, so you need to rely on each other."

 _Rely...on each other…_ Gaara thought to himself with narrowed eyes, unfamiliar with doing such a thing. He had always fought for himself. And when he fought for himself, there was never a need to rely on other people. Perhaps this was another lesson that he had to learn if he wanted to become Kazekage and prove his worth to the village.

Naruto, on the other hand, let out a confident smile. _Piece of cake! Kakashi-sensei's already drilled this into our heads._

"Always, at all times, stay with another person. Never forget that you are working with people who share a common end goal as you. Completing the mission." Asuma said, a serious expression on his face. "If something were to happen to me, you all need to stick together as much as you can. Someone will have to take point and lead the group to success. Just keep that in mind as we continue on during this mission."

For some reason, as if on instinct, Sasuke chose that moment to look up at the sky. He saw a crow flying overhead, circling around the group far above in the sky. He sharpened his gaze and flashed his slumbering hatred as the thought of a certain man came into his mind.

"Let us begin. Hinata, activate your Byakugan to scout the area for any enemies. Also try to look for a safe entrance into Orochimaru's hideout." Asuma commanded the female Hyuga with a distant tone as he focused on Sasuke's angered and vengeful expression glaring up into the deep blue sky.

"Y-Yes!" Hinata croaked, startled at the sudden command. Forming multiple hand signs, she held up her fingers in an upward position close to her face. "Byakugan!"

While Hinata scouted, Asuma took the time to briefly look up into the sky. When he did, he saw what Sasuke was staring at.

A crow…

The symbol of death and misfortune. He distinctly remembered a man known for the use of powerful Genjutsu, usually utilizing crows to cast illusions upon his foes. The same man who turned traitor and deserted the village.

Asuma had a bad feeling about this…

"Oh, sensei!" Hinata suddenly blurred out with a gasp. "I see something…"

"What is it?" Asuma demanded. "An enemy?"

Hinata nodded her head at the answer. "Yes. With my current range, I can see two people approaching our group as we speak…" She then paused as she proceeded to expand the range of her sight to about one kilometer, making sure to turn in every direction to cover her blind spot. As she did so, she let out another gasp. "No. I was wrong, there's a third person who just entered my range. He seems to be alone...I-I don't think he's Oto…"

"What do you mean?" Asuma questioned with narrowed eyes, raising his chakra blades, ready to fight if necessary.

"I recognize the other two people. I fought them in the Forest of Death during the Chunin Exams. Th-The other one...he's going at a completely different pace than the others. He doesn't seem to be in a rush at all." Hinata said with a drop of sweat rolling down her face, her anxiety rising. "He's slow...too slow…" If the sight of the man didn't scare her enough, it was how slow he was going that really did her in. "I-I don't know what it is...but I'm getting the feeling that...this man is on a completely different level than the other two."

"Is that so?" Asuma mused with a look of contemplation. "Very well. Looks like I'm gonna have to take care of that guy. Hinata, please point me in his direction."

"He's over there." The indigo-haired Hyuga pointed to her right. "Keep going that way and you'll run into him soon enough."

"Thanks." Asuma said as he turned to the direction the Genin was pointing at. "I'm also getting the feeling that this guy is far above all of you. For that reason, I want you five to stay together and take on the two Oto Shinobi. If you fought them in the forest, then they should be no problem. Just remember that they could have been suppressing their strength."

And with that, Asuma Sarutobi disappeared with speed that no one could keep up with using their own eyes. Hinata had the Byakugan and she could _barely_ keep up with the movements.

"Oi, Hinata!" Naruto called for his teammate. The girl let out a small squeak at the sound of her name.

"Y-Yes?"

"Tell me where those two guys are! I'm gonna go beat the shit out of them, ya know!" Naruto cheered with a confident expression.

"Oh." Hinata suddenly snapped back into reality. Composing herself, she pointed in front of her. "Over there."

"Alright! Thanks!" And just like that, the knucklehead ninja leaped off the branch e was standing on, disappearing through the lush green of the forest before any of his team could protest.

"Hold on, Naruto!" Sasuke called out, but it was as if the boy did not hear him. With an annoyed grunt, he said, "What an idiot!" Soon, he too went in the direction Naruto went in.

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun!" Hinata cried out for her teammates in an attempt to get them to stop, but her attempts proved to be fruitless. She let out a sigh.

"I should go after them." Gaara said robotically as the last male of the group left the two kunoichi alone.

"Gaara!" This time it was Sakura who yelled out for their squad mate. "Damn it!" Asuma had told them to stick together, and they were now splitting up. She turned to her fellow female ninja. "At least no one except Asuma-sensei is alone."

Hinata frowned. At least Sakura was able to see a positive in a situation like this. That was something she was slightly envious of the girl for. She usually managed to look on the bright side of things with confidence. A trait that Hinata herself did not possess.

"-nata! Hey, Hinata!"

The Hyuga let out a gasp as she found her shoulders being shook by the pink-haired girl. She was daydreaming again. She didn't even notice that she had subconsciously deactivated her Byakugan.

"You sure do love to space out a lot." Sakura said with a quizzical look.

"Ahh! Pardon me for my rudeness, Sakura-san! I was just...what?!" Her pupiless eyes widened to the size of melons as she had reactivated her Byakugan.

"What is it?!" Sakura asked out of concern.

"They split up. The two ninja split up, and one is heading for the two of us! They will be here any second now."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "So that one leftover is going to fight Naruto, Sasuke, _and_ Gaara?" At her companion's nod, her concern grew. "What? You said you fought those two in the Forest of Death! One of them cannot be _that_ powerful to the point where they can take on the likes of those three!"

The grim look on Hinata's face did not help quell Sakura's fears at all. "I-I'm afraid so. And from the looks of it, th-the person after us may just be _as_ powerful as...look out!"

With a loud scream, Sakura found herself and Hinata tumbling off the branch after the latter had tackled her off. Fortunately, the fall wasn't too high to cause any injuries, but that still didn't mean hitting the ground didn't hurt like a bitch.

"Ow!" Sakura cried out, pushing her new friend off of her. "What the hell was that for?!" She paused when she saw the dirt-ridden face of Hinata looking up with a serious yet nervous expression at a branch above them. With caution, Sakura also chose to look up…

Only to see Kin Tsuchi looking down on them with gritted teeth, hands on her hips.

"Tch! That Byakugan of yours sure is annoying."

"It's you!" Sakura immediately recognized the girl, remembering her from the trio that attacked Hinata in the forest just as she had said. At that moment, she realized why they were being attacked by her only. She could tell by the look in the long-haired girl's eyes _exactly_ what she wanted.

"It's payback time, scum."

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Dosu Kinuta landed on the branch he was jumping towards, choosing to wait for his opponents. He and Kin decided to split up in order to break up the group. They were pretty sure that they could handle the group on their own from there.

The Oto ninja curled his fingers to a fist, digging his nails into his skin. _This power...I can still feel it coursing through my veins._

He looked up from his hand to see his three destined opponents stopping on a branch in front of him, commencing a face off.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sabaku no Gaara." Dosu acknowledged, recognizing all three of them from the Chunin Exams that happened not that long ago. "I was surprised to hear that you were coming here. Is both Konoha and Suna _that_ weak? All they have left to send is a few weak and inexperienced Genin? Oh, how the mighty great villages have fallen."

"Dosu Kinuta." The Uchiha identified, vividly remembering their enemy as well. "I assure you, we are not weak nor inexperienced. I say that it's enough. At least enough to defeat you!"

"This is good…" Dosu muttered under his breath as he widened his exposed eye, black marks starting to appear on the left side of his body. "I've been wanting to fight both you and Sabaku no Gaara for quite some time now, Sasuke Uchiha."

Said boy let out a shocked gasp along with Naruto as they laid their eyes upon the black markings. "That is…"

"The Curse Mark, correct. _Just_ like the one you have, Uchiha." Dosu said with a smirk hidden under his bandages. "Originally, I would not be able to stand against the three of you. However, with this power granted to me by Orochimaru-sama, I am sure of my victory!"

Naruto let out a growl. "So that snake gave the mark to you too? Can't you see, he's just using you! Once you are of no use to him he's just going to throw you away like trash!"

Dosu remained silent, taking the Uzumaki's words into consideration. Perhaps, that was the case. But even if it was, it did not matter. At the moment, Dosu didn't know who he was. His allegiance with Orochimaru was all he had.

"Naruto." Gaara spoke up, catching the attention of the blond-haired boy. "It is pointless. He cannot be saved. He is merely another product of Orochimaru's brainwashing...another slave. What a pitiful guy."

Dosu's eye twitched at the insult. He didn't know, but something about that statement bothered him. Normally, he didn't take an opponent's trash talk too seriously, but this time was not of the norm.

"I am _not_ just another pawn!" Dosu exclaimed, taking a battle stance, ready to charge. "I shall prove it to you all right here and now!"

* * *

 **In Another Area**

Team 1 sat in the dull green forests of the desert. Their location was home to one of the only forests in the huge desert pit known as Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind). Fortunately, the hideout was concealed somewhere in the forest.

Kurenai felt confident in the Genin that she was given. Although she would have liked to have a tracker like Shino or Kiba or even one of the two Hyuga, this would work. Tactically, she thought that her group was very efficient. She had the help of Shikamaru, a newly promoted and very intelligent Chunin, Temari, who is quite smart herself. Ino, while not as smart as the other two, was not bad while Tenten's mastery in weapons would prove fruitful. Choji completed the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Without one, the entire combo falls. Plus, the boy was the strongest physically out of everyone.

"Shikamaru, as I said before, if we were to get separated, it is your job to take point and lead your team." Kurenai advised her current subordinate, who gave a nod in response. "I can feel an intense killing intent in the air. Some very strong people are near."

As if on cue, Guren and Zaku appeared in front of the group. The male Oto ninja let out a malicious grin, immediately making a mad dash for the first Genin that caught his eye. This Genin was unfortunately Choji. Zaku had remembered the quick and easy defeat that the Akimichi had suffered against Dosu. He was a weak link, and the weak links must be dealt with.

However, despite his greatest attempt in eliminating Choji, his quick advance was halted abruptly by a hard kick to the stomach that threw him backwards. Zaku slammed his hand onto the ground, raising himself back to his feet as he scowled at the person who hit him.

"You bitch!" He cursed as he began to rush forwards, only to be stopped by the crystal blade of his fellow Oto nin.

"Idiot. Can't you see? Even with your mark you are still no match for a Jonin." Guren said simply as she laid her eyes on Kurenai, the being who had kicked Zaku. "I can tell...it's not much, but you've gotten faster since we last fought."

The Genjutsu Mistress narrowed her eyes. "I knew that we would be in battle again at some point. So I was training just for that moment. I'll be honest I didn't expect that rematch to be now…"

The Shoton user smirked, "Your snaky-friend can no longer help you now. I didn't get to finish what we started because of her. Now, we can get on with it without any interruptions."

Kurenai glanced at the Genin at her side, who stood with tense stances as they watched their enemies closely. Even in this situation, Kurenai could easily feel the nervousness that was coming off of Choji, Ino, and Tenten while facing Guren.

 _It's six people against two._ She thought to herself. _I am the only one who stands a chance against Guren. The others will be able to handle Zaku, but if things get bad I want to be close to help. In that case…_

Kurenai removed a kunai from her pouch, gripping it tightly as she stared at both Zaku and Guren with focused eyes. "We'll have to defeat the both of you in order to get by."

"Oh please! Do you really think it's going to be that easy?" Guren questioned as black markings began to spread across Zaku's powering as the grin on his face grew even more.

 _Orochimaru's Curse Mark. Just like the one on Sasuke Uchiha...this will indeed be a hard fight to win. However, these odds aren't impossible. We still have a chance!_

"You five, I'm counting on you to support me whenever I need help. For now, just focus on taking down the boy. _I_ shall take care of Guren!"

"Yes mam!

It was Shikamaru the one who responded. Normally, he would refer to such things as a drag.

This time however, things were different...

* * *

 **During This Time**

Neji gave his Jonin sensei a side glance. Over his year of being his pupil, Neji has come to understand the type of man Might Guy was. He had an overly determined mindset. One that would put even Naruto and Lee to shame.

Still, despite his idiotic demeanor and annoying attitude, Neji couldn't forget just how powerful Guy was. At full strength, he was most certainly one of the strongest in Konoha.

However, right now, something was different. Might Guy was not the overly eccentric man that Neji knew him to be. He seemed...deadly serious. In fact, if anything, he seemed very on edge. As if he was feeling a deadly presence in the air that only he and Kakashi could pick up. And if something could get Might Guy on edge, then it was definitely something big.

As a result of this fear, Neji immediately brought his hands in front of his face. Veins bulged around the edges of his eyes as Neji activated his dojutsu, using it to scan the area. Unfortunately, although his Byakugan was superior to Hinata's in combat prowess, his own visual power paled in comparison to hers when it came to range.

As he was right now, Neji could only see 50 meters max. As far as he was concerned, Hinata could see a kilometer, possibly a little farther.

Due to his handicap in range, it took a while for Neji to detect what most likely was leaving Kakashi and Guy in distress.

Two men…

That was it?

 _This is what made them so nervous?_ Neji thought curiously with a confused expression on his face.

"I assume you've seen them, right Neji?" Kakashi spoke up, startling the male Hyuga.

"Do you know them?" He asked in response with curiosity.

"One of them." Was the response he got. Kakashi turned to the rest of the Genin and spoke, "Listen up. The enemy's coming here are most likely not allies of Orochimaru. Regardless, that does not make them _our_ allies. Be on guard. They are coming in this way."

"H-Hey, Kakashi-sensei." Kiba started with a concerned tone. "Are we in danger? Are those people strong?"

"Very strong." The response came from Guy this time.

"Yes." Kakashi stated his agreement. "One of them alone could take you all out. Guy and I are the only ones who stand a chance. And even then, our chances of victory may be slim…"

"But _who_ is coming?" Kankuro interjected with his own question.

"Th-They're here…" Neji suddenly blurred out with a pale face. Seeing the Hyuga's face, the other Genin turned to where he was facing. They each saw two cloaked figures. One with a sword and another with raven-colored hair.

"We were right." Guy stated with a grim tone. "It is…"

Kakashi's only exposed eye crinkled. Out of all times for him to show his face, why now? This was the worst possible time.

"Yeah. It's him…"

So, he was a member of the organization Jiraiya had talked to him about. The organization that was potentially after Naruto. That was no doubt their purpose for being here. Either that, or possibly eradicating the traitor named Orochimaru.

He stared at the figure on his left. Cold red eyes bore into his soul. He had grown older since the last time he had seen him, but there was no doubt in his mind that it was the same person. A person who used to be his partner in the Anbu. A person responsible for the mass genocide of an entire clan…

"It's Itachi Uchiha…"

* * *

 **Hey, guys. I'm finally back, after like five months. Sorry that the chapter isn't long at all. I was just so lazy over the past couple of months and I got practically no work done. I was also sick for a little bit so that took quite a bit out of me as well.**

 **Anyway, I could have done more, but I just wanted to post this chapter to let you guys know I'm still alive and kicking. All of the shit happening today is not going to stop me from writing this fic.**

 **So, next chapter will be full of fighting as far as I'm concerned. It might take some time because I have to pick up on my plans for this fic and remember what I had planned and stuff. So, hope you guys can be patient for a bit.**

 **Anyways, this was me, posting a chapter so you know I haven't abandoned this fic. Hope you guys enjoyed the short chapter.**

 **Take care, goodbye!**


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